The variation of the deuterium content of natural waters in the hydrologic cycle

Abstract

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.

Understanding snow hydrological processes through the lens of stable water isotopes

“…Fractionation factors between vapor and liquid or vapor and solid (ice) decrease with increasing temperature (Akers, Welker, & Brook, 2017;Friedman, Redfield, Schoen, & Harris, 1964). Accordingly, higher air temperatures (positively correlated with cloud condensation temperature) lead to lower fractionation factors.…”

Procedure for high precision density determinations by hydrostatic weighing

“…In addition to simplifyin g th e operation (it is easie r to read a differe nce than to dial it out) 'fewer dial operated weights beco me involv ed so calibration un certainties are minimized. The requirements for large sensitivity and large on-s cale range taken together demand that the balance swing over a very large range in <P. But eq (10) shows that S is depende nt upon <P, except at the single point defined in eq (11), so that linearity is sacrificed to achieve sensitivity and range .…”

“…These experiments were conducted prior to knowledge of isotopes, and we define "normal" water as that having a "normal" or "average" isotopic abundance ratio. Modern workers [11,12] have shown that th e isotopic abundance ratio in samples of water drawn from various locations on the earth may vary eno ugh to result in density differences of as much as 5 or more parts per million. Without knowledge of the isotopic abundance ratio in the water used in measuring the milliliter we are left with an un certainty of thi s amount in the accepted value of th e volume of the milliliter.…”

Stable isotope compositions of alteration fluids in low-grade Lower Palaeozoic rocks, English Lake District

“…Water was extracted from hydrous minerals and fluid inclusions following the method of Friedman (1953). Isotopic ratios were determined for purified H 2 and CO2 gases on McKinney-Nier type mass spectrometers.…”