Stable isotopic compositions in Australian precipitation

Abstract

Stable deuterium (δD) and oxygen‐18 (δ18O) isotopes in 1962 to 2002 precipitation from the seven Australian stations of the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP) were used to investigate isotope characteristics including temporal and spatial distributions across different regions of Australia. On the basis of 1534 samples, the local meteoric water line (LMWL) was established as δD = 7.10δ18O + 8.21. δ18O showed a depletion trend from north and south to central Australia (a continental effect) and from west to east. Precipitation amount effects were generally greater than temperature effects, with quadratic or logarithmic correlations describing δ/T and δ/P better than linear relationships. Nonlinear stepwise regression was used to determine the significant meteorological control factors for each station, explaining about 50% or more of the δ18O variations. Geographical control factors for δ18O were given by the relationship δ18O (‰) = −0.005 longitude (°) − 0.034 latitude (°)‐0.003 altitude (m) − 4.753. Four different types of d‐excess patterns demonstrated particular precipitation formation conditions for four major seasonal rainfall zones. Finally, wavelet coherence (WTC) between δ18O and SOI confirmed that the influence of ENSO decreased from east and north to west Australia.