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Extreme short‐term stable isotope variability revealed by continuous rainwater analysis
Author(s) -
Munksgaard N. C.,
Wurster C. M.,
Bass A.,
Bird M. I.
Publication year - 2012
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.9505
Subject(s) - precipitation , environmental science , rainwater harvesting , stable isotope ratio , tracer , atmospheric sciences , isotope , climatology , δ18o , hydrology (agriculture) , meteorology , geology , ecology , geography , biology , physics , geotechnical engineering , quantum mechanics , nuclear physics
The continuous real‐time analysis, at 30‐s intervals, of precipitation at an Australian tropical location revealed extreme and rapidly changing δ 18 O and δD values related to variations in moisture source areas, transport paths and precipitation histories. The range of δ 18 O (−19.6‰ to +2.6‰) and δD (−140‰ to +13‰) values from 5948 measurements of nine rain events over 15 days during an 8‐month period at a single location was comparable with the range measured in 1532 monthly samples from all seven Australian Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation stations from 1962 to 2002. Extreme variations in δ 18 O (−8.7‰ to −19.6‰) and δD (−54‰ to −140‰) were recorded within a single 4‐h period. Real‐time stable isotope monitoring of precipitation at a high temporal resolution enables new and powerful tracer applications in climatology, hydrology, ecophysiology and palaeoclimatology. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.