LEVELS OF DEPOSITION, RECHARGE CONDITIONS AND HYDROCHEMISTRY OF AQUIFERS OF THE OB-IRTYSH INTERFLUVE (A CASE STUDY OF THE STEPPE PART OF THE ALTAI TERRITORY)

Abstract

Information about the groundwater of the drainless region of the Ob-Irtysh interfluve within the boundaries of the Altai Territory has been collected and summarized. The paper describes in detail ground waters of this area, which are currently gaining increasing importance in the water supply of rural settlements. The study used literary, stock, cartographic sources of information, and the results of expedition research. In Soviet times, large-scale works were performed for the steppe part of the region to search for and explore underground waters for the purposes of national economic consumption and irrigation, and monitoring was carried out. The Kulundinsky lowland and part of the Priobsky plateau are located in the drainless region. Groundwater has a diverse chemical composition which depends on the depth of the horizon, the lithological composition of the rocks, and other local features. Groundwater is replenished due to winter precipitation: in the warm period, precipitation is rare and almost all evaporate. During the year, the fluctuation of the groundwater level is one to two meters, for a long-term period – from two to three meters, depending on the natural features of the territory. Based on the studied data, a map-diagram of the depth of groundwater occurrence within the boundaries of landscape zoning areas has been compiled.