Exploratory data from more than 1000 analyses of the distribution of deuterium in waters of the North American continent and the surface oceans contiguous to the continent are presented. The elementary theory of the processes that appear to explain the changes in the deuterium content of natural waters is developed. Quantitative expressions of the deuterium fractionation that can be expected to occur are presented for all phases of the hydrologic cycle from the evaporation of water from the oceans, its precipitation as rain and snow, and its travel back to the sea. Processes such as the freezing of water under equilibrium and nonequilibrium conditions, the evaporation of water from closed lakes and from lakes with an outlet, the formation of fog, frost, and dew are also discussed. The regional characteristics of the surface waters of North America are described and interpreted as reflecting the history of the water in the course of the hydrologic cycle.
Experimental data based on more than 1000 analyses of the distribution of deuterium in waters of the North American continent and the surface oceans contiguous to the continent are presented. An elementary theory which appears to explain the changes in deuterium content that natural waters undergo in the course of the hydrologic cycle is developed.
Samples taken from cores of sea ice collected near Ice Island T-3 at 80ø18'N, 113øW, and on US-IGY Drifting Station Alpha at approximate locations of 85ø4ffN, 127øW, and 83øN, 165øW, were analyzed for their relatives deuterium content. A plot of deuterium concentration vs. depth in the ice, from the T-3 ice core, shows three positions of minimum deuterium concentration.These minima are interpreted as being due to the formation in the summer, and freezing in the early winter, of a surface layer of water of low deuterium concentration. This layer forms by the mixture of sea water with water from melted precipitation that is low in deuterium. The sea ice floats on this deuterium-poor layer, and this layer is the first material to be added to the ice floe when accretion by freezing begins in the early winter.Several samples of surface water collected by the submarine U.S.S. Skate during the summer of 1958 at 86ø44'N, 77ø55'W, a•d 89ø18.5'N, 45ø00'W, prove the existence of such a deuteriumdepleted layer at these locations. Two cores taken on US-IGY Drift Station Alpha at approximate locations of 82øN, 165øW, and 85øN, 127øW, show no such clear deuterium variation. This is interpreted to indicate that no deuterium-depleted layer formed because (1) in the 2 or 3 years preceding ice collection on Drift Station Alpha precipitation was much less than at the other locations sampled, or (2) vertical mixing under Drift Station Alpha was greater than at the other locations.During an investigation of the separation of deuterium during the freezing of ice, a number of natural environments were sampled. In a previous paper by Friedman and Redfield [1956] deuterium analyses of coexisting ice and water from Hopedale Bay, Labrador, and ice forming in the sea off Woods Hole, Massachusetts, were given, and it. was shown that when
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.