HYDROGEOCHEMICAL RUNOFF IN THE CENTRAL KAZAKHSTAN AND ITS ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF EXOGENOUS PROCESSES

Groundwater plays a crucial role in the geochemical cycle as the “life force of the Earth,” serving as the main agent of geochemical exchange between the hydrosphere and lithosphere. This is attributed to its typically long residence time underground and the extensive contact surface between water and the solid matrix of subsurface rocks. For the quantitative assessment of hydrogeochemical runoff, 14 areas corresponding to the basins of four major inland water bodies were identified. The study determined the magnitude of chemical flux carried by groundwater and surface waters, as well as the input of salts from atmospheric precipitation. In the study area, where surface runoff is limited, groundwater serves as the primary mechanism for the redistribution of matter within the Earth’s crust. In addition to the gravitational movement of groundwater through the rocks of the upper crust from recharge zones to discharge areas, there is migration of chemical elements entering groundwater as a result of various physicochemical and biological processes occurring within the rock–water system.