Anomalous stable hydrogen-oxygen isotope characteristics and water vapor sources of autumn precipitation in the Weihe River basin, Northwest China.

Abstract

The extreme changes in autumn rain have significant impacts on the ecological environment of Weihe River basin. Based on 117 autumn rain samples and corresponding meteorological data from 2015 to 2021 at Yangling located in the middle of Weihe River basin, we investigated the stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope composition and water vapor sources of precipitation. The results showed that, (1) extreme changes in autumn rainfall in the study area occurred frequently in recent years, which could be divided into extreme-high autumn precipitation year (HAP, 2021), general autumn precipitation year (GAP, 2015-2017, 2019-2020) and extreme-low autumn precipitation year (LAP, 2018) based on the autumn rain index (ARI); (2) the stable isotopes of different types of precipitation differed significantly, with a pattern of LAP>GAP>HAP for both δ2H and δ18O values. the variations of d-excess values and the slopes and intercepts of the meteoric water lines of autumn rain showed opposite trends. The main factor controlling autumn rain anomaly was not the local meteorological parameters, but the El Nino-Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean dipole events, which could explain 99% and 93% of the autumn rain isotopic variations, respectively. These coupling phenomena affected water vapor transport intensity of the marine air mass to the northwest inland, which determined autumn rainfall amount and the stable hydrogen-oxygen isotope composition. Our results would be helpful for improving the understanding of autumn rain anomalies in West China, and provide basic data and theoretical support for regional hydrological model building, would thereby better serve water resources management and disaster prevention and reduction.