Use of water isotopes tracers in high latitude hydrology and paleohydrology

1. Use of water isotopes tracers in high latitude hydrology and paleohydrology

THOMAS W.D. EDWARDS, BRENT B. WOLFE, JOHN J.
GIBSON, DAN HAMMARLUND
by Liubov Soldatova at CORELIS

2. Isotopes in paleolimnology

ISOTOPES IN PALEOLIMNOLOGY
• Lake sediments contain information about isotopic
water content
• Isotopic fractionation of water in the hydrological
cycle arises because of differences in the behavior of
water molecules containing various combinations of
the naturally occurring stable isotopes of hydrogen
(1H, 2H) and oxygen (16O, 17O, 18O).
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3. Isotopes in paleolimnology

ISOTOPES IN PALEOLIMNOLOGY
• Lake sediments can be used to reconstruct
past hydrology and
hydroclimatology at high latitudes.
• Provides information about runoff generation
processes and surface water balance
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4. Oxygen-isotope archives

OXYGEN-ISOTOPE ARCHIVES
• Sedimentary calcite
(Chara algae calcite)
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• Pisidium sp. Mollusks
aragonite

5. Oxygen-isotope archives

OXYGEN-ISOTOPE ARCHIVES
• Foraminifera
• Candona candida
ostracode calcite
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6. Reconstruction based on sediments from Lake Tibetanus, Sweden

RECONSTRUCTION BASED ON SEDIMENTS
FROM LAKE TIBETANUS, SWEDEN
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