Spatiotemporal Variations of Water Stable Isotope Compositions in Nujiang Headwaters, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Hongbao Wu, Xuexia Wang, Hongwei Shui, Hasbagan Ganjurjav, Guozheng Hu, Quanhong Lin, Xiaobo Qin and Qingzhu Gao
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Hongbao Wu: Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Xuexia Wang: Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Hongwei Shui: College of Territorial Resources and Tourism, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, China
Hasbagan Ganjurjav: Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Guozheng Hu: Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Quanhong Lin: College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
Xiaobo Qin: Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Qingzhu Gao: Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 16, 1-15

Abstract: The variations of the stable isotope compositions in water provide critical information on hydroclimatic mechanisms. The climatological and hydrological processes in the Nujiang headwaters in the central Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau are extremely complex and are controlled by alternating continental/local recycled and maritime moisture. However, previous studies have only derived limited data from different types of water in the Nujiang headwaters. Therefore, aiming to understand the sources of stable oxygen (δ 18 O) and hydrogen (δ 2 H) isotopes’ compositional variability and how these are related to hydroclimatic processes, we measured δ 18 O and δ 2 H values from surface waters, snow and precipitation across the Nujiang headwaters from April to September 2018. We found higher δ 18 O (−13.7‰), δ 2 H (−101.8‰) and deuterium excess (d-excess; 7.6‰) values in the non-monsoon season and lower values in the summer monsoon season. Our findings indicated that the δ 18 O and δ 2 H compositions were significantly affected by different moisture sources in this region. The slope (6.66) and intercept (−14.90) of the surface water line (SWL: δ 2 H = 6.66 δ 18 O − 14.90, R 2 = 0.98) were lower than those of the local meteoric water line (LMWL: δ 2 H = 9.50 δ 18 O + 41.80, R 2 = 0.99) and global meteoric water line (GMWL), indicating that precipitation was the primary water vapor source for surface water, and evaporation was the dominant hydrological process for the Nujiang headwaters. In general, δ 18 O and δ 2 H tended to be negatively correlated with precipitation and air temperature. In addition, δ 18 O and δ 2 H values in the Nagqu River were inversely correlated with the intensity of discharge, highlighting a precipitation-driven isotope-discharge pattern. Our findings provide a theoretical basis for the hydroclimatic mechanisms occurring in the Nujiang headwaters and further augment our understanding of the southern–middle–northern hydroclimate in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau.

Keywords: stable isotopes; precipitation; river; Nujiang headwaters; Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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