Temporal Variations of Isotopic Composition of Glacier-River Water During Summer: Observations at Austre Okstindbreen, Okstindan, Norway

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AbstractThe isotopic composition of river water discharging from the Norwegian glacier, Austre Okstindbreen, in summer varies on both daily and longer-term scales. Most δ18o values of samples from the principal river are within the range −12.5 to −14.0‰). Because new snow tends to be relatively depleted of 8180, water leaving the glacier early in the summer has low δ18O values. Subsequently, values rise as contributions of old snow, glacier ice, and their melt waters, which are isotopically heavier (median δ18O values generally above −12.0‰) dilute the δ18O depleted base-flow component of discharge, a mixture of waters with different histories of formation, storage, and transit. Accumulation-area melting contributes significantly to river discharge. Towards the end of the summer, as surface melting declines, δ18O values tend to fall. Between-year differences of within-summer trends reflect differences of development of the glacier’s drainage systems. The drainage systems are affected by outbursts from a glacier-dammed lake. During fine weather, δ18ovariations follow the diurnal cycle of surface melting: they are strongly correlated with, but lag behind, air temperatures. Perturbations during rainfall cannot be explained simply in terms of the isotopic composition of the precipitation, since low values may be associated with isotopically heavy rainfall. Displacement of water previously stored within or below the glacier may account for the anomaly. Contrasts of composition characterize different rivers leaving the glacier, because the relative contributions of various water sources differ.