Isotopic composition of precipitation over arid northwestern China and its implications for the water vapor origin

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)

LIU, J.

Key Lab. of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Inst. of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, Chine

Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, Chine

SONG, X.

Key Lab. of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Inst. of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, Chine

SUN, X.

CERN sub-center of Water, Beijing, Chine

YUAN, G.

CERN sub-center of Water, Beijing, Chine

LIU, X.

Key Lab. of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Inst. of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, Chine

Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, Chine

WANG, S.

Key Lab. of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Inst. of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, Chine

Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, Chine

Description :
In order to reveal the characteristics and climatic controls on the stable isotopic composition of precipitation over Arid Northwestern China, 8 stations have been selected from Chinese Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (CHNIP). During the years 2005 and 2006, monthly precipitation samples have been collected and analyzed for the composition of δD and δO 18. Spatial distributions of δO 18 have properly portrayed the atmospheric circulation background in each month over Arid Northwestern China. The quantitative simulation of δO 18, which involved a Rayleigh fractionation and a kinetic fractionation, demonstrated that the latter one was the dominating function of condensation of raindrops. Furthermore, the raindrop suffered a re-evaporation during falling processes, and the precipitation vapor might have been mixed with a quantity of local recycled water vapor. The established δO 18-T relation, which has been based on the present-day precipitation, could be considered as a first step of quantitatively reconstructing the historical environmental climate.

Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Journal of geographical sciences. Acta geographica sinica, issn : 1009-637X, 2009, vol. 19, n°. 2, p. 164-174, nombre de pages : 11, Références bibliographiques : 2 p.

Date :
2009

Editeur :
Pays édition : Chine

Langue :
Anglais