2016/11/18 by Jiangpeng Cui, Lide Tian, Trent Biggs +1 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Chemistry · #Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry #Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies #Climate variability and models #Water cycle #Precipitation #Environmental science #Water balance #Plateau (mathematics) #Hydrology (agriculture) #Surface water #Stable isotope ratio #Evaporation #Water vapor #Water level #Atmospheric sciences #Geology #Chemistry #Ecology #Meteorology
paper · doi:10.1002/hyp.11085
openalex publication_date 2016/11/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Abstract The numerous lakes on the Tibetan Plateau play an important role in the regional hydrological cycle and water resources, but systematic observations of the lake water balance are scarce on the Tibetan Plateau. Here, we present a detailed study on the water cycle of Cona Lake, at the headwaters of the Nujiang‐Salween River, based on 3 years (2011–2013) of observations of δ 18 O and δ 2 H, including samples from precipitation, lake water, and outlet surface water. Short‐term atmospheric water vapor was also sampled for isotope analyses. The δ 2 H–δ 18 O relationship in lake water (δ 2 H = 6.67δ 18 O − 20.37) differed from that of local precipitation (δ 2 H = 8.29δ 18 O + 12.50), and the deuterium excess (d‐excess) in the lake water (−7.5‰) was significantly lower than in local precipitation (10.7‰), indicating an evaporative isotope enrichment in lake water. The ratio of evaporation to inflow ( E / I ) of the lake water was calculated using both d‐excess and δ 18 O. The E / I ratios of Cona lake ranged from 0.24 to 0.27 during the 3 years. Observations of atmospheric water vapor isotopic composition ( δ A ) improved the accuracy in E / I ratio estimate over a simple precipitation equilibrium model, though a correction factor method provided nearly identical estimates of E / I ratio. The work demonstrates the feasibility of d‐excess in the study of the water cycle for lakes in other regions of the world and provides recommendations on sampling strategies for accurate calculations of E / I ratio.