Published In

Geosciences

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2018

Subjects

Climate -- Research, Evaporation (Meteorology), Isotope geology, Geochemistry, Hydrologic cycle, Paleoclimatology

Abstract

Deuterium excess (d-excess) is a second-order stable isotope parameter measured in meteoric water to understand both the source of precipitation and the evolution of moisture during transport. However, the interpretation of d-excess patterns in precipitation is often ambiguous, as changes in moisture source and processes during vapor transport both affect d-excess in non-unique ways. This is particularly true in Asia where continental moisture travels a long distance across diverse environments from unique moisture sources before falling as precipitation. Here, I analyzed published d-excess records from meteoric water throughout Asia to better characterize what influences d-excess values. I conclude that, (1) an increase in d-excess values with elevation up the windward side of mountain ranges and a marked decrease in d-excess into their rain shadows are primarily related to subcloud evaporation as opposed to moisture source mixing; (2) high d-excess values (>10‰) associated with the eastern Mediterranean Sea are lowered across much of Central Asia by the addition of other moisture sources, both oceanic and recycled continental; (3) subcloud evaporation of raindrops is lowering d-excess values of precipitation (

Description

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).

DOI

10.3390/geosciences8070257

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/25993

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