Scientists study the role of hypersaline lakes in global climate change

Scientists from the Southern Federal University, the Hydrochemical Institute of Roshydromet and the Don State Technical University have shown for the first time that about 55 kg of methane and about 14.7 tons of carbon dioxide are released from the surface of Lake Baskunchak - one of the largest hypersaline lakes in the world - per day.

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The low intensity of methane fluxes turned out to be related to its low concentration in water, while a significant amount of carbon dioxide was associated with microbial activity, salt precipitation, and reduced photosynthesis activity due to high salinity. Thus, salinization of water bodies and soils in arid areas of the planet may become an additional source of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which contribute to climate change on the planet.

Scientists have determined how greenhouse gas fluxes are formed in the hypersaline Lake Baskunchak. This body of water belongs to the drainless - that is, the organic matter that comes with the water and formed directly inside it is not washed out, but gradually accumulates. The salinity of Baskunchak is about 300 g/l, which is almost 20 times higher than the salinity of the Black Sea.

"Using Lake Baskunchak as an example, we have shown that salinization of water bodies and soil salinization of dry landscapes can become an additional source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. At the same time, methane emission is likely to decrease due to the activation of its sulfate-dependent anaerobic oxidation processes in bottom sediments," Yuri Fedorov, the project leader, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Head of the Department of Physical Geography, Ecology and Nature Conservation at the Institute of Earth Sciences of the Southern Federal University, told Izvestia.

The use of the obtained data allows us to take into account the impact and contribution of water bodies in the global balance of greenhouse gases, experts believe.