Origin and variability of oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition of precipitation in the Central Andes: A review

Valdivielso, Sonia; Vàzquez-Suñé, Enric; Custódio, Emílio

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.124899

Cited by 36 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 116 publications

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“…Atmospheric back trajectories and isotopic data show an important role of western-sourced water vapor in southern Peru. A similar moisture source has been inferred from δ 18 O p in northern Chile and the Atacama Desert (Aravena et al, 1999;Herrera et al, 2018;Valdivielso et al, 2020), but is generally disregarded in modern central Andean water budgets (e.g., Garreaud, 1999) and is not considered in most reconstructions of Andean paleoaltimetry (e.g., Garzione et al, 2006). Our δ 18 O p , d-excess p , and moisture flux results show that western-sourced moisture may play an important hydrologic role in the dry western central Andes and may contribute to steep δ 18 O p lapse rates (−4.4 ± 1.1‰/km in southern Peru (this study) to ∼ -10‰/km in northern Chile (Aravena et al, 1999;Fritz et al, 1981)) on the western flank where low elevation Pacific sourced water vapor (high δ 18 O) mixes with high elevation Atlantic sourced water vapor (low δ 18 O).…”

Section: Implications Of Western-derived Air Massessupporting

confidence: 65%

Variability and Controls on δ¹⁸O, d‐excess, and ∆′¹⁷O in Southern Peruvian Precipitation

et al. 2021

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The isotopic composition of precipitation is used to trace water cycling and climate change, but interpretations of the environmental information recorded in central Andean precipitation isotope ratios are hindered by a lack of multi‐year records, poor spatial distribution of observations, and a predominant focus on Rayleigh distillation. To better understand isotopic variability in central Andean precipitation, we present a three‐year record of semimonthly δ18Op and δ2Hp values from 15 stations in southern Peru and triple oxygen isotope data, expressed as ∆′17Op, from 32 precipitation samples. Consistent with previous work, we find that elevation correlates negatively with δ18Op and that seasonal δ18Op variations are related to upstream rainout and local convection. Spatial δ18Op variations and atmospheric back trajectories show that both eastern‐ and western‐derived air masses bring precipitation to southern Peru. Seasonal d‐excessp cycles record moisture recycling and relative humidity at remote moisture sources, and both d‐excessp and ∆′17Op clearly differentiate evaporated and non‐evaporated samples. These results begin to establish the natural range of unevaporated ∆′17Op values in the central Andes and set the foundation for future paleoclimate and paleoaltimetry studies in the region. This study highlights the hydrologic understanding that comes from a combination of δ18Op, d‐excessp, and ∆′17Op data and helps identify the evaporation, recycling, and rainout processes that drive water cycling in the central Andes.

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Section: Implications Of Western-derived Air Massessupporting

confidence: 65%

Variability and Controls on δ¹⁸O, d‐excess, and ∆′¹⁷O in Southern Peruvian Precipitation

et al. 2021

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“…The depletion of heavy isotopes in precipitation  18 O and ice-core  18 O with elevation (Fig. 1) is consistent with prior observations on the isotopic composition of precipitation in the Bolivian and Chilean Altiplano (Aravena et al, 1999;Hardy et al, 2003;Fiorella et al, 2015;Valdivielso et al, 2020). In contrast,  18 OTR seems to reflect the northeast-southwest aridity gradient across the region, with more negative values for Cedrela odorata east of the Andes in the wetter tropical lowlands of Peru and Bolivia (Brienen et al, 2012;Baker et al, 2015) and more positive values for semiarid high-elevation P. tarapacana (Ballentyne et al, 2011;Rodriguez-Caton et al, 2021).…”

Section: Accepted Articlesupporting

confidence: 90%

Hydroclimate and ENSO Variability Recorded by Oxygen Isotopes From Tree Rings in the South American Altiplano

Rodríguez‐Catón

Andreu‐Hayles

Daux

et al. 2022

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…However, over larger topographic ranges (several km) this pattern of temperature and precipitation isotope change in relation to elevation is fairly consistent. This pattern is true in the windward face of the Sierra Nevada (Ingraham and Taylor, 1991), Cascades (Hren, Unpublished), Himalaya (e.g., Garzione et al, 2000;Hren et al, 2009;Li and Garzione, 2017), northern and southern Andes on both east and west sides (Gonfiantini et al, 2001;Stern and Blisniuk, 2002;Smith and Evans, 2007;Saylor et al, 2009;Hoke et al, 2013;Valdivielso et al, 2020), the Alps (Giustini et al, 2016), Southern Alps (Poage and Chamberlain, 2001), topical mountain systems such as the Sierra Oriental of Mexico (Quezadas et al, 2015) and Taiwan (This study), tropical regions within Africa and South America (Gonfiantini et al, 2001), even isolated peaks such as Mauna Loa, Hawaii (Scholl et al, 1996;Scholl et al, 2007) and Mount Kilimanjaro (Zech et al, 2015). In fact, the pattern of precipitation isotopes and temperature as a function of elevation is far simpler to predict for the windward side of an orogen, where the majority of water vapor is removed from an airmass during orographic lifting and cooling, than for the leeward side, where atmospheric oscillations, high degrees of evaporation and mixing of multiple moisture sources can produce complex and spatially heterogeneous water isotope patterns.…”

Section: Stable Isotope Paleoaltimetrymentioning

confidence: 88%

Organic Molecular Paleohypsometry: A New Approach to Quantifying Paleotopography and Paleorelief

Hren

Ouimet

2021

Front. Earth Sci.

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Stable isotope paleoaltimetry is one of the most commonly used approaches for quantifying the paleoelevation history of an orogen yet this methodology is often limited to arid to semi-arid climates, mountain systems with a clear orographic rainshadow and terrestrial basins. We present a new approach to reconstructing past topography and relief that uses the catchment-integrated signature of organic molecular biomarkers to quantify the hypsometry of fluvially-exported biomass. Because terrestrially-produced biomolecules are synthesized over the full range of global climate conditions and can be preserved in both terrestrial and marine sediments, the geochemistry of fluvially-transported sedimentary biomarkers can provide a means of interrogating the evolution of topography for a range of environments and depositional settings, including those not well suited for a traditional isotope paleoaltimetry approach. We show an example from Taiwan, a rapidly eroding tropical mountain system that is characterized by high rates of biomass production and short organic residence time and discuss key factors that can influence molecular isotope signal production, transport and integration. Data show that in high relief catchments of Taiwan, river sediments can record integration of biomass produced throughout the catchment. Sedimentary biomarker δ2HnC29 in low elevation river deposition sites is generally offset from the δ2HnC29 value observed in local soils and consistent with an isotope composition of organics produced at the catchment mean elevation. We test the effect of distinct molecular production and erosion functions on the expected δ2HnC29 in river sediments and show that elevation-dependent differences in the production and erosion of biomarkers/sediment may yield only modest differences in the catchment-integrated isotopic signal. Relating fluvial biomarker isotope records to quantitative estimates of organic source elevations in other global orogens will likely pose numerous challenges, with a number of variables that influence molecular production and integration in a river system. We provide a discussion of important parameters that influence molecular biomarker isotope signatures in a mountain system and a framework for employing a molecular paleohypsometry approach to quantifying the evolution of other orogenic systems.

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Origin and variability of oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition of precipitation in the Central Andes: A review

Cited by 36 publications

References 116 publications

Variability and Controls on δ¹⁸O, d‐excess, and ∆′¹⁷O in Southern Peruvian Precipitation

Variability and Controls on δ¹⁸O, d‐excess, and ∆′¹⁷O in Southern Peruvian Precipitation

Hydroclimate and ENSO Variability Recorded by Oxygen Isotopes From Tree Rings in the South American Altiplano

Organic Molecular Paleohypsometry: A New Approach to Quantifying Paleotopography and Paleorelief

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Origin and variability of oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition of precipitation in the Central Andes: A review

Cited by 36 publications

References 116 publications

Variability and Controls on δ18O, d‐excess, and ∆′17O in Southern Peruvian Precipitation

Variability and Controls on δ18O, d‐excess, and ∆′17O in Southern Peruvian Precipitation

Hydroclimate and ENSO Variability Recorded by Oxygen Isotopes From Tree Rings in the South American Altiplano

Organic Molecular Paleohypsometry: A New Approach to Quantifying Paleotopography and Paleorelief

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Product

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Variability and Controls on δ¹⁸O, d‐excess, and ∆′¹⁷O in Southern Peruvian Precipitation

Variability and Controls on δ¹⁸O, d‐excess, and ∆′¹⁷O in Southern Peruvian Precipitation