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Spatial Variation and Controlling Factors of H and O Isotopes in Lancang River Water, Southwest China

Climate changes and other human activities have substantially altered the hydrological cycle with respect to elevation. In this study, longitudinal patterns in the stable isotopic composition (δ(2)H and δ(18)O) of Lancang River water, originating from the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, are presented, and...

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Autores principales: Yang, Kunhua, Han, Guilin, Zeng, Jie, Liang, Bin, Qu, Rui, Liu, Jinke, Liu, Man
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6950668/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31817498
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244932
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author Yang, Kunhua
Han, Guilin
Zeng, Jie
Liang, Bin
Qu, Rui
Liu, Jinke
Liu, Man
author_facet Yang, Kunhua
Han, Guilin
Zeng, Jie
Liang, Bin
Qu, Rui
Liu, Jinke
Liu, Man
author_sort Yang, Kunhua
collection PubMed
description Climate changes and other human activities have substantially altered the hydrological cycle with respect to elevation. In this study, longitudinal patterns in the stable isotopic composition (δ(2)H and δ(18)O) of Lancang River water, originating from the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, are presented, and several controlling factors in the wet season are hypothesized. Lancang River water δ(2)H (−145.2‰ to −60.7‰) and δ(18)O (−18.51‰ to −8.49‰) were low but close to those of the Global Meteoric Water Line. In the upper reaches of the river, δ(2)H decreased longitudinally, potentially due to groundwater inputs and melting ground ice in the headwater zone and to an increasing proportion of glacier meltwater with decreasing elevation. In the middle reaches of the river, δ(2)H values increased slowly moving downstream, likely due to shifts in precipitation inputs, as evidenced by the isotopic composition of tributaries to the main stream. In the lower reaches of the river, the isotopic composition was relatively invariant, potentially related to the presence of large artificial reservoirs that increase the water resident time. The results reveal different hydrological patterns along an alpine river in central Asia associated with both natural and anthropogenic processes. Understanding the degree and type of human interference with the water cycle in this region could improve water management and water security.
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spelling pubmed-69506682020-01-16 Spatial Variation and Controlling Factors of H and O Isotopes in Lancang River Water, Southwest China Yang, Kunhua Han, Guilin Zeng, Jie Liang, Bin Qu, Rui Liu, Jinke Liu, Man Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Climate changes and other human activities have substantially altered the hydrological cycle with respect to elevation. In this study, longitudinal patterns in the stable isotopic composition (δ(2)H and δ(18)O) of Lancang River water, originating from the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, are presented, and several controlling factors in the wet season are hypothesized. Lancang River water δ(2)H (−145.2‰ to −60.7‰) and δ(18)O (−18.51‰ to −8.49‰) were low but close to those of the Global Meteoric Water Line. In the upper reaches of the river, δ(2)H decreased longitudinally, potentially due to groundwater inputs and melting ground ice in the headwater zone and to an increasing proportion of glacier meltwater with decreasing elevation. In the middle reaches of the river, δ(2)H values increased slowly moving downstream, likely due to shifts in precipitation inputs, as evidenced by the isotopic composition of tributaries to the main stream. In the lower reaches of the river, the isotopic composition was relatively invariant, potentially related to the presence of large artificial reservoirs that increase the water resident time. The results reveal different hydrological patterns along an alpine river in central Asia associated with both natural and anthropogenic processes. Understanding the degree and type of human interference with the water cycle in this region could improve water management and water security. MDPI 2019-12-05 2019-12 /pmc/articles/PMC6950668/ /pubmed/31817498 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244932 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Yang, Kunhua
Han, Guilin
Zeng, Jie
Liang, Bin
Qu, Rui
Liu, Jinke
Liu, Man
Spatial Variation and Controlling Factors of H and O Isotopes in Lancang River Water, Southwest China
title Spatial Variation and Controlling Factors of H and O Isotopes in Lancang River Water, Southwest China
title_full Spatial Variation and Controlling Factors of H and O Isotopes in Lancang River Water, Southwest China
title_fullStr Spatial Variation and Controlling Factors of H and O Isotopes in Lancang River Water, Southwest China
title_full_unstemmed Spatial Variation and Controlling Factors of H and O Isotopes in Lancang River Water, Southwest China
title_short Spatial Variation and Controlling Factors of H and O Isotopes in Lancang River Water, Southwest China
title_sort spatial variation and controlling factors of h and o isotopes in lancang river water, southwest china
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6950668/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31817498
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244932
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