Salinity Model Inferred from Two Shallow Cores at Sambhar Salt Lake, Rajasthan

Abstract

The Sambhar lake of central Rajasthan, located between Ajmer and Jaipur, is a hypersaline lake. The present study focuses on the mineralogy of the lacustrine sediments of this region. X-ray diffraction patterns of shaflow auger hole samples show a broad pattern of fluctuation in vertical profiles. It is apparent that rock weathering in the catchment area supplies a flux of clastic minerals like quartz, feldspar and mica during the wet period. This is followed by an evaporite sequence of carbonate-sulfate-chloride in dry climate. Thus, an abundance of calcite indicates the beginning of evaporation, while later stages are characterized by the dominance of thenardite and finally of halite.