Carbon Dioxide Springs of Uselek

Uselik Carbonated Springs are the highest located outlets of carbonated mineral waters in Kyrgyzstan — they emerge at an absolute height of over 3600 m in the same area as the Chatyr-Kul deposit, but 15 km east of the lake, in the Torugart-Tau mountains. A distinctive feature of the geological structure of this area is the presence of young (Cenozoic) magmatic rocks (basalts), which may be related to the existence of the local mineral waters to some extent.

Unlike the carbonated mineral waters of Beshbelchir-Arashan and Chatyr-Kul, the water from Uselik belongs to sodium bicarbonate-chloride (according to GOST 13 273—73 type XX), which includes the waters of the Essentuki-17, Essentuki-4 springs (Stavropol Krai) and other equally popular therapeutic waters, as iodine with various mineralization (from 5 to 25 g/L) can be found in the Uselik area.

The flow rates of the springs here are usually small — hundredths, and less frequently tenths of a liter per second, but their total number is significant, so together they sometimes create streams of mineral water, which has a bitter-salty taste.