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Isotope studies of inner snow layers in a temperate region
Author(s) -
Hashimoto Shigemasa,
Shiqiao Zhou,
Nakawo Masayoshi,
Sakai Akiko,
Ageta Yutaka,
Ishikawa Nobuyoshi,
Narita Hideki
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.1151
Subject(s) - snow , surface runoff , isotope , precipitation , isotopes of oxygen , temperate climate , geology , snowmelt , environmental science , surface layer , environmental chemistry , hydrology (agriculture) , atmospheric sciences , chemistry , layer (electronics) , geomorphology , geochemistry , meteorology , geography , ecology , physics , biology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
Post‐depositional change of isotope concentration was investigated in a temperate snow pack. Daily snow pit studies were carried out at Moshiri, Hokkaido, for about a week in April 1998. During this time the snow layers were at the melting point. Isotope analysis was conducted on snow particles and the liquid water in between the particles every 5 cm in depth, and on the precipitation and the runoff water (from the bottom of the snow pack) collected during the observation period. It was found that the oxygen isotope concentration in the liquid part was smaller by about 2‰ than the solid part of the wet snow. The difference between the isotope concentrations of the liquid and the solid was low in the surface snow layer, but increased at the bottom. The results suggested that isotope fractionation took place between the liquid and the solid, when liquid water (formed by melting at the snow surface layer) flowed groundwards. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.