Since 1956 the author has been making extensive and detailed investigations of saline lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. On the basis of large amounts of reliable first-hand data and multidisciplinary analysis, the book deals with the temporal-spatial evolution of the plateau saline lakes and the prospects for inorganic salts and organic resources and their exploitation and protection, as well as the relationships between saline lakes and global changes.
This book is the first English monograph on saline lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau - the `Roof of the World'. Compared with books about saline lakes in other areas of the world, this monograph is written in a multidisciplinary, comprehensive and systematic way. It may be used by graduate students, teachers, researchers, field geologists and engineers as a reference book in research, teaching, etc.

Inhalt
1 General Overviews.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Saline Lakes and Lake Districts.- 3 Evolution of Cenozoic Lake Basins and the Formation of Saline Lakes.- 4 Hydrochemistry and Mineral Associations of Saline Lakes.- 5 Classification of Saline Lakes and Types of Mineral Deposit.- 6 Tectonogeochemistry and Regional Geochemistry.- 7 Material Sources and Model of Salt Formation of Saline Lakes.- 8 Shoreline Deposits and Palaeoclimatic Analysis.- 2 Study of Halophilic Organisms.- 9 Discovery and Study of Halobacteria and Halophilic Algae in the Zabuye Caka.- 10 Biomineralization of Boron and Other Halo tolerant Organisms.- 3 Division of Minerogenic Zones, Prediction of Resource Potential and Prospects of Development of Saline Lakes on the QinghaiTibet Plateau.- 11 Division of Minerogenic Zones and Prediction of Resource Potential.- 12 Prospects of Development of Resources of Saline Lakes and Their Environmental Protection.- Concluding Remarks.- References.- Appendix 1 Rules for Translating Geographic Names Related to Saline Lakes on the QinghaiTibet Plateau.- Appendix 2 List of Lakes on the QinghaiTibet Plateau.- Appendix 3 Index of the Place Names.- Appendix 4 Explanation of Plates.- Appendix 5 Map of Hydrochemical Zones of Lakes on QinghaiXizang (Tibet) Plateau.