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Stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen in the Truckee River–Pyramid Lake surface‐water column. 1. Data analysis and extraction of paleoclimatic information
Author(s) -
Benson L. V.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1994.39.2.0344
Subject(s) - hydrology (agriculture) , water column , snowmelt , surface water , geology , streamflow , environmental science , snow , drainage basin , oceanography , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering , cartography , environmental engineering , geography
The δ 1 8 O content of streamflow discharge entering Pyramid Lake is a simple mixture of isotopically enriched Lake Tahoe discharge and isotopically depleted snowmelt. The δ 18 O value of Pyramid Lake water varies continuously, as isotopically depleted water evaporates from the epilimnion and isotopically depleted water enters the lake as streamflow discharge and on‐lake precipitation. In a normal water year, the δ 18 O of Pyramid Lake surface water varies seasonally because the components of the hydrologic balance in the Pyramid Lake system are seasonally shifted. The problem of isotopic and thermal heterogeneity can be minimized by analyzing carbonates that integrate the annual variance in δ 18 O, form in an environment in which temperature is relatively invariant, and are not subject to recrystallization after deposition.