ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Toxicology, Pollution and the Environment
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1646864
This article is part of the Research TopicRecent Advances in Volatile Organic Compounds, Heavy Metals, Microplastics, and Solid Wastes in EcosystemsView all 9 articles
Pollutant Distribution Characteristics and Microbial Response Mechanisms in Surface and Deep Brines of the Qaidam Basin
Provisionally accepted
- 1Qinghai University, Xining, China
- 2Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
- 3Qinghai geological survey, Xining, China
- 4Key Laboratory of Green and High-end Utilization of Salt Lake Resources, Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China
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This study examines the distinctions between surface and deep brines in the typical Salt Lake region of the Qaidam Basin, with a focus on physicochemical properties, organic matter composition, distributions of heavy metals and organic pollutants, and microbial community structures. The findings indicate that surface brines contain higher levels of organic matter (TOC and DOC), whereas deep brines exhibit significantly elevated concentrations of heavy metals, including Mn, Pb, and Cd, underscoring the enrichment effect of confined subsurface environments. Furthermore, pollutants such as PAEs, halogenated compounds, and sulfides are more concentrated in deep brines, likely due to industrial discharge, atmospheric deposition, and the metabolic activity of halophilic microorganisms. Microbial analysis reveals a predominance of Proteobacteria in deep brines and Firmicutes in surface brines, with notable differences at the genus level. RDA and correlation heatmap analyses suggest that pollutants, particularly Pb, Cd, PAEs, halogenated compounds, and sulfides, play crucial roles in shaping microbial communities. Overall, the accumulation of pollutants in deep brines significantly alters microbial community structures, which in turn affects key ecological functions. This highlights the importance of incorporating microbial responses into environmental risk assessments during deep brine resource development.
Keywords: deep brine, heavy metal pollution, organic pollutants, microbial community structure, extreme environment
Received: 14 Jun 2025; Accepted: 18 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lu, Wang, Wang, Ma, Shi, Qi and Zhe. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Delin Qi, Qinghai University, Xining, China
Ma Zhe, Key Laboratory of Green and High-end Utilization of Salt Lake Resources, Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China
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