A comparative study on stable isotopic composition in waters of the glacial and nonglacial rivers in M ount G ongga, C hina

H ailuogou ( HLG ) R iver and H uangbengliu ( HBL ) G ulley are typical alpine glacial and nonglacial rivers in M ount G ongga C hina, respectively. To differentiate distinct hydrologic regimes of the two rivers, δ 18 O and δ2 H were measured on 196 water samples collected almost monthly from M ay 2008 to D ecember 2009. The results indicate that: (i) the measured isotopic data show that stream water is overall isotopically more enriched in 2 H and 18 O than ice‐snow meltwater but more depleted than precipitation and ground water; (ii) these data also suggest that stream flow is generally more dominated by ice‐snow meltwater in HLG R iver than in HBL G ulley; (iii) δ2 H / δ18 O relationship suggests that isotopic composition of precipitation is well preserved in stream flow, and evaporation is only minor in both HBL G ulley and HLG River ; (iv) this study highlights that ice‐snow meltwater is a substantially important water source in alpine regions on south‐eastern edge of T ibetan Plateau.