Isotopic evidence for the moisture origin and composition of surface runoff in the headwaters of the Heihe River basin

Abstract

We investigated the moisture origin and contribution of different water sources to surface runoff entering the headwaters of the Heihe River basin on the basis of NECP/NCAR (National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research) re-analysis data and variations in the stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios (δ D and δ18O) of precipitation, spring, river, and melt water. The similar seasonality in precipitation δ18O at different sites reveals the same moisture origin for water entering the headwaters of the Heihe River basin. The similarity in the seasonality of δ18O and d-excess for precipitation at Yeniugou and Urumchi, which showed more positive δ18O and lower d-excess values in summer and more negative δ18O and higher d-excess values in winter, indicates a dominant effect of westerly air masses in summer and the integrated influence of westerly and polar air masses in winter. Higher d-excess values throughout the year for Yeniugou suggest that in arid inland areas of northwestern China, water is intensively recycled. Temporal changes in δ18O, δD, and d-excess reveal distinct contributions of different bodies of water to surface runoff. For example, there were similar trends for δ D, δ18O, and d-excess of precipitation and river water from June to September, similar δ18O trends for river and spring water from December to February, and similar trends for precipitation and runoff volumes. However, there were significant differences in δ18O between melt water and river water in September. Our results show that the recharge of surface runoff by precipitation occurred mainly from June to mid-September, whereas the supply of surface runoff in winter was from base flow (as spring water), mostly with a lower runoff amount.