Stable Isotopes in Precipitation: Atmospheric Controls

A recent study on atmospheric controls of precipitation isotopes published in Scientific Report, journal from the publishers of Nature. The oxygen and hydrogen isotopic compositions in precipitation are typical of the tropical marine sites but show significant variations depending on the ocean-atmosphere conditions. They seems to be controlled by the dynamical nature of the moisture rather than the individual rain events. Precipitation isotopes undergo systematic depletions in response to the organized convection occurring over a large area and are modulated by the integrated effect of convective activities. Precipitation isotopes appear to be linked with the monsoon system on intraseasonal timescale. The variable nature of rain amount and its isotopic ratios limits our ability to reconstruct the past-monsoon rainfall using paleoclimatic archives (e.g. Speleothem).

Link - doi: 10.1038/srep19555 (2016)