Beshbelchir-Arashan Deposit
Beshbelchir-Arashan Deposit has the warmest water among all manifestations of carbonated mineral waters in Kyrgyzstan. It is located at the foot of the southern slope of the Atbashy Range, 70 km southeast of the city of Naryn, in the valley of the Arachan River at an absolute height of about 3300 m. Although this area is widely known for its permafrost, which is sometimes exaggeratedly referred to as "eternal" frost, the temperature of the carbonated water here at the surface is close to 20°C.
The center of the deposit is marked by a modern travertine shield covering just under a hectare, made of pale, beige, and sugary white finely layered calcium carbonate sediment that precipitated from the water upon losing its dissolved carbon dioxide; above and below this shield, over a stretch of about 350 m, more than 20 jets of mineral water can be observed, sometimes "boiling" vigorously due to the gas being released from it.
In 1976, hydrogeologists from the city of Balakchy drilled a well 232 m deep in the northwestern part of the travertine field, which revealed self-flowing mineral carbonated water in the karstified Paleozoic limestones, which was previously bottled in the city of Naryn under the name "Arashan".
The well produces about 3 l/s of spontaneous gas and 4 l/s of calcium-sodium bicarbonate carbonated water, which is almost a complete analogue of the "Sairme" waters (near Kutaisi, Georgia) - II type of therapeutic mineral waters according to GOST 13 273-73.
Among the microcomponents contained in the water of Beshbelchir-Arashan are manganese, tin, strontium, barium, and rare alkalis (lithium, rubidium, cesium), but their content is much lower than the maximum permissible concentration for toxic substances and lower than the balneological conditions for therapeutic use.
An interesting feature of the deposit, associated with the elevated water temperature, is the unusually high content of helium in the spontaneous gas emissions for carbonated waters in Kyrgyzstan. This somewhat indicates the deep formation of the carbonated mineral waters in the area. At the same time, comparing the temperature measurements over time, it can be noted that the temperature changes significantly, which is characteristic of waters influenced by near-surface factors. For instance, in the same springs in October 1952, the water was 1 - 1.7°C warmer than in October 1974, measuring 19 - 19.5°C; the water from the well in 1976 had a temperature of 22°C, while in mid-August 1979 it was already 19.3°C, i.e., almost 3°C lower, which far exceeds the possible measurement errors.
