HIBAL: a hydrologic-isotopic-balance model for application to paleolake systems

Abstract

A simple hydrologic-isotopic-balance (HIBAL) model for application to paleolake δ 18O records is presented. Inputs to the model include discharge, on-lake precipitation, evaporation, and the δ 18O values of these fluid fluxes. Monthly values of climatic parameters that govern the fractionation of 18O and 16O during evaporation have been extracted from historical data sets and held constant in the model. The ability of the model to simulate changes in the hydrologic balance and the δ 18O evolution of the mixed layer has been demonstrated using measured data from Pyramid Lake, Nevada. Simulations of the response in δ 18O to step- and periodic-function changes in fluid inputs indicate that the hydrologic balance and δ 18O values lag climate change. Input of reconstructed river discharges and their δ 18O values to Pyramid and Walker lakes indicates that minima and maxima in simulated δ 18O records correspond to minima and maxima in the reconstructed volume records and that the overall shape of the volume and δ 18O records is similar. The model was also used in a simulation of abrupt oscillations in the δ 18O values of paleo-Owens Lake, California.