The influence of snow sublimation on the isotopic composition of spring and surface waters in the southwestern United States: Implications for stable isotope-based paleoaltimetry and hydrologic studies

Lechler, Alex R.; Niemi, Nathan A.

doi:10.1130/b30467.1

Cited by 34 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…The large basins south of 24 • S act as reservoirs for potential energy (resulting from daily solar heating) from which deep-convective storms can erupt. Deuterium excess (defined as d = δD − 8 * δ 18 O) is a parameter determined by non-equilibrium fractionation indicative of sub-cloud evaporation, moisture recycling, snow sublimation, or changes in moisture source (Stewart, 1975;Froehlich et al, 2008;Lechler and Niemi, 2012).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This problem is especially relevant in high-elevation mountain ranges and plateau regions, where a systematic decrease in δ 18 O and δD of meteoric waters with elevation is not observed, even though large temperature gradients as a function of elevation exist (Poage and Chamberlain, 2001;Rowley et al, 2001;Hren et al, 2009;Lechler and Niemi, 2012;Schemmel et al, 2013). Explanations for this phenomenon have included mixing of different moisture sources (Hren et al, 2009), high-elevation evaporation (Schemmel et al, 2013), and snow sublimation (Lechler and Niemi, 2012). Beyond these factors that likely contribute to discrepancies between expected/modeled and observed δ 18 O and δD patterns in the geologic proxy record, the isotope-enabled atmospheric circulation http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.09.021 0012-821X/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…key factors that affect isotope distillation in orographic rainfall (Rozanski et al, 1993;Worden et al, 2007). This problem is especially relevant in high-elevation mountain ranges and plateau regions, where a systematic decrease in δ 18 O and δD of meteoric waters with elevation is not observed, even though large temperature gradients as a function of elevation exist (Poage and Chamberlain, 2001;Rowley et al, 2001;Hren et al, 2009;Lechler and Niemi, 2012;Schemmel et al, 2013). Explanations for this phenomenon have included mixing of different moisture sources (Hren et al, 2009), high-elevation evaporation (Schemmel et al, 2013), and snow sublimation (Lechler and Niemi, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Can stable isotopes ride out the storms? The role of convection for water isotopes in models, records, and paleoaltimetry studies in the central Andes

Rohrmann

Strecker

Bookhagen

et al. 2014

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Can stable isotopes ride out the storms? The role of convection for water isotopes in models, records, and paleoaltimetry studies in the central Andes

Rohrmann

Strecker

Bookhagen

et al. 2014

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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“…The southernmost transect crosses this study area, from which two irrigation wells and five surface water samples were included in this study. A larger set ( n = 51) of stream water samples (Lechler & Niemi, ) were collected in the Tule and Kings River basins at elevations above 1,000 m above mean sea level. A set of shallow domestic well samples were collected in the foothills of Tulare County (Singleton et al, ).…”

Section: Study Area Methods Data and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of river water recharge to the San Joaquin Valley groundwater system

Visser

Moran

Singleton

et al. 2018

Hydrological Processes

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Groundwater is not a sustainable resource, unless abstraction is balanced by recharge. Identifying the sources of recharge in a groundwater basin is critical for sustainable groundwater management. We studied the importance of river water recharge to groundwater in the south‐eastern San Joaquin Valley (24,000 km2, population 4 million). We combined dissolved noble gas concentrations, stable isotopes, tritium, and carbon‐14 analyses to analyse the sources, mechanisms, and timescales of groundwater recharge. Area‐representative groundwater sampling and numerical model input data enabled a stable isotope mass balance and quantitative estimates of river and local recharge. River recharge, identified by a lighter stable isotope signature, represents 47 ± 4% of modern groundwater in the San Joaquin Valley (recharged after 1950) but only 26 ± 4% of premodern groundwater (recharged before 1950). This implies that the importance of river water recharge in the San Joaquin valley has nearly doubled and is likely the result of a 40% increase in total recharge, caused by river water irrigation return flows and increased stream depletion and river recharge due to groundwater pumping. Compared with the large and long‐duration capacity for water storage in the subsurface, storage of water in rivers is limited in time and volume, as evidenced by cold river recharge temperatures resulting from fast infiltration and recharge. Groundwater banking of seasonal surface water flows and expansion of managed aquifer recharge practices therefore appear to be a natural and promising method for increasing the resilience of the San Joaquin Valley water supply system.

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“…There were no significant precipitation events during the sampling period and no sublimation influence by snowpack sources because of the weakened monsoon and the decreased temperatures [cf. Lechler and Niemi, 2012]. Most water samples were taken from small streams with perennial or ephemeral flow, with relief of <2 km and in drainage basins less than 200 km 2 in area (Table 2).…”

Section: Sampling and Analytical Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable isotopes of surface water across the Longmenshan margin of the eastern Tibetan Plateau

Hoke

Liu‐Zeng

et al. 2014

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Characterization of the stable isotope compositions (d 18 O and dD) of modern-day surface waters traversing mountain ranges and bordering continental plateaus is important for refining climate models and establishing modern isotope-elevation gradients along mountain ranges. The Longmenshan margin of the Tibetan Plateau is a steep, 4 km topographic front situated near the boundaries between westerlies and Asian monsoon moisture sources, and is previously unexplored with respect to the variation in water isotopic composition with elevation. This study reports stable isotope data from 101 water samples collected from streams, springs, and ponds along the Min River (Minjiang) watershed, which traverses the Longmenshan margin. Local meteoric water lines, d-excess values, and surrounding precipitation and river water data sets suggest that precipitation across the Longmenshan margin is dominated by the East Asian summer monsoon. The increase in d-excess values with increasing catchment elevation breaks down as local moisture recycling becomes important at elevations > 3 km a.s.l.. Along the Min River, however, the d 18 O w and dD w values decrease with increasing catchment elevation, which fit second-order polynomial curves and are well-approximated by a simple Rayleigh fractionation processes. The temperature-corrected oxygen values in authigenic carbonates from the Pleistocene Zoige Basin, north of the Min River watershed, yield elevations equivalent to present by the oxygen isotope-elevation relationship of the Longmenshan margin.

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The influence of snow sublimation on the isotopic composition of spring and surface waters in the southwestern United States: Implications for stable isotope-based paleoaltimetry and hydrologic studies

Cited by 34 publications

References 74 publications

Can stable isotopes ride out the storms? The role of convection for water isotopes in models, records, and paleoaltimetry studies in the central Andes

Can stable isotopes ride out the storms? The role of convection for water isotopes in models, records, and paleoaltimetry studies in the central Andes

Importance of river water recharge to the San Joaquin Valley groundwater system

Stable isotopes of surface water across the Longmenshan margin of the eastern Tibetan Plateau

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