Formation of mud springs in the Cretaceous Ordos groundwater basin and their hydrogeological significance

“Mud springs” of varying quantity occur at edges of part of lake basins in the desert plateau area in the north of the Ordos basin. Based on field investigation and chemical analyses of mud springs, this paper sums up the distribution, structure, dynamic regime and components of the mud springs. This research shows that: mud springs are a special kind of spring, whose mud comes from bottom mud of lakes and water comes from groundwater at different circulation depths. The dynamic regime of the mud springs reflects different circulation depths of groundwater. The distribution and dynamic regime of mud springs have certain hydrogeological significance for the study of the way of groundwater discharge.