| Abstract:With many saline lakes, China has a long history of salt lake exploitation. According to the archaeology of salt-making technology and radiocarbon chronology, the use of salt is thought to have begun more than 4000 years ago in the Xiechi Lake, Yuncheng, Shaanxi province. Most Quaternary saline lakes occur in West and Northeast China. Four main saline lake regions can be distinguished: Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Northwest region, Northeast region and East region of scattered lakes, which consists of thirteen saline lake districts. All the hydrochemical types in the world have been found in saline lakes of China, which include carbonate type (strong, moderate and weak subtypes), sodium sulfate subtype, magnesium sulfate subtype, chloride type and nitrate type. From the Quaternary arid center of the Qaidam Basin-Eastern Tarim Basin outwards, there are successively a chloride (nitrate) magnesium sulfate subtype zone, a magnesium-sulfate subtype zone or sodium-sulfate zone, and a carbonate type + sodium-sulfate subtype or carbonate type zone. According to Quaternary saline lake records, since the beginning of the Quaternary, there have been more than six stages of arid climate (salinization): Stage I (2.36~2.00 Ma B.P.), Stage Ⅱ(1.62～1.00 Ma B. P.), Stage Ⅲ (0.90～0.60 Ma B.P.), Stage IV (31 000～21 000 a B.P.), Stage V (18 000～5 000 a B. P.) and Stage VI (4 500 a B.P.～the present day). |
