Formation, development and exploitation of modern "dry" salt Lake Baskunchak, the Russian Federation

The article discusses the features of migration and the concentration of chemical elements in the earth's crust during the formation of modern basins by evaporite sedimentation, on the example of "dry" salt Lake Baskunchak located in the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation. The formation of the salt composition of the brines entering it is determined by the leaching activity of the ancient salt formations located in the immediate vicinity (salt rods, domes, etc.), followed by redeposition of salts in the basin in the course of evaporite sedimentation. In addition, the article, on the example of Lake Baskunchak, discusses the features of the evolutionary development of modern salt ponds from their inception to regression. In accordance with this, the main stages of the evolutionary development of saltwater reservoirs are pre-sedimentation, sedimentation including the phase of "brine" and "dry" salt lake, and post-sedimentation ones. It is emphasized that by the time of reaching the "dry" lake stage its hydrological period of development is completed, and the surface brine is transformed into an underground one, due to which a period comes when the further development of the basin begins to be determined by hydrogeological features. Among the main objectives of this study, it is also worth highlighting the features of the development and operation of modern solid salt deposits and their brines at Lake Baskunchak, and the possibility of regenerating its reserves based on thermodynamic and kinetic methods for calculating salt formation processes.