Mineral waters of northern Kyrgyzstan

Keywords

• Northern Kyrgyzstan
• mineral waters
• hydrogeology
• mineralization
• chemical composition
• thermal springs
• geological structure
• recreational resources

Summary

A. T. Dyushembieva and A. Baktyar kyzy of Kyrgyz State University named after I. Arabaev describe the mineral and thermal waters of northern Kyrgyzstan, the Chüy, Issyk-Kul, Naryn and Talas regions on the northern edge of the Tien Shan, and how they relate to the region’s geological structures. Kyrgyzstan has about 100 mineral-water outlets, with total resources of about 50 thousand m³ a day. In the Chüy valley, wells have brought nitrogen thermal waters of various mineralisation to the surface from 1,000–2,500 m.

The Ysyk-Ata hot springs, 77 km south-east of Bishkek at 1,775 m on the northern slope of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too, rise along a deep north–south fault in Palaeozoic metamorphic and sedimentary rocks cut by a granite–diorite intrusion. The water is 48–55 °C, smells of hydrogen sulphide and is weakly mineralised (0.23–0.30 g/L) sulphate–chloride–bicarbonate sodium water with 40–50 mg/L of silicic acid; its gas is 98% nitrogen. The springs give 3.64 L/s in all and the eight boreholes of the deposit 20 L/s; the reserves, 2.2 thousand m³ a day, supply the Ysyk-Ata resort. The Alamüdün springs, 30 km south of Bishkek at 1,700 m, rise through a fault in granites at 20–30 °C, with 5–7 L/s of bicarbonate–sulphate calcium–sodium water of 0.4–0.8 g/L whose gas is 98% nitrogen.

Around Lake Issyk-Kul the waters are tied to deep faults of the Teskey and Kungey Ala-Too and are mostly thermal, with radon, iodine, bromine and hydrogen sulphide. The Aksuu springs near Teploklyuchenka rise from granite porphyries at 57–60 °C, gave 18 L/s in 1961 and supply the Aksuu sanatorium; the Altyn-Arashan springs, 8–10 km farther south, are similar. Other hot springs are Jeti-Oguz (25–42 °C, 0.9 to 13 g/L, with radon), Bozuchuk (28–30 °C, 0.8 g/L), Juukuchak (31–34 °C, also from a 260 m borehole), Saryjaz (50 °C) and Kerege-Tash in Tong district (46 °C). The Barbulak well, drilled in 1979, 600 m from the lake shore, flows from fractured Palaeozoic sandstones and siltstones at 1,100 m: 44 °C, 2.5 L/s and 4.0–4.7 g/L of sulphate–chloride calcium–sodium water, with gas of 88–90% nitrogen and 1.5% helium. At Cholpon-Ata on the north shore, wells take water from Pliocene sandstones and argillites at 906–1,500 m: 48 °C, 1,736 m³ a day in all, 15–40 g/L of chloride–sulphate sodium–potassium water with 8–14 mg/L of bromine and 1.0–3.2 mg/L of iodine, used by several sanatoriums.

In Naryn region most mineral waters are cold carbon-dioxide waters, linked to deep faults and mantle sources of CO₂, such as Karakeche (3–4 °C, 1,568–2,335 mg/L of dissolved CO₂) and Chatyr-Köl (5–7 g/L). The exception is the Chaek (Kashkaterek) well, drilled in 1981, 3 km north-east of Chaek, which brings 47.5–48.5 °C chloride–sodium water of 5.2 g/L with 18–35 mg/L of bromine from Pliocene gravelites at 1,115 m. The springs of Talas region are little studied. The authors note that some springs yield 400–3,000 m³ a day, that construction, weak protection zones and changing yields threaten the springs, and call for their protection, digital monitoring and a single state system for managing resort resources.

How to cite

A. T. Dyushembieva and A. Baktyar kyzy (2026). Mineral waters of northern Kyrgyzstan. Vestnik Kyrgyzskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta imeni I. Arabaeva (Bulletin of Kyrgyz State University named after I. Arabaev), 2026, No. 2/3, pp. 27–37. https://doi.org/10.33514/1694-7851-2026-2/3-27-37