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Composition of stable isotope in precipitation and its influences by different vapor sources in the eastern Qilian Mountains

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Abstract

To better understand the process of precipitation and water cycle, the composition of stable isotope in precipitation and its influences by different vapor sources in the eastern of Qilian Mountains were conducted from June 2013 to May 2014. The total of 100 precipitation samples were collected in Wushaoling national meteorological station located in the eastern of Qilian Mountains. The analysis indicates that the slope of Local Meteoric Water Line is lower than that of Global Meteoric Water Line. The average values of δ18O and δD in precipitation are higher in summer but lower in winter. Except for negative correlation with relative humidity, the stable isotope values in precipitation are positive correlations with temperature, precipitation and water vapor pressure. Influenced by water vapor source, the values of d-excess are lower for the Westerly wind and the South Asia Monsoon on July and the Westerly wind and the East Asia Monsoon on August, but they are higher for the Westerly wind on other months, that they are also influenced by the weather conditions in rainfall process. The variation of stable isotope in precipitation exhibited significant temperature effect, and there is also some precipitation amount effect in spring and summer.

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Acknowledgements

The research reported in this manuscript is funded by the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS (2013274), National Nature Science Foundation of China (91547102 and 41661005), Gansu Province Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (1506RJDA282), National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFC0404305), and National Natural Science Foundation Innovation Research Group Science Foundation of China (41421061).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Geography and Environmental Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Wen-xiong Jia, Xing-gang Ma, Xiu-ting Xu, Rui-feng Yuan, Dan Ding & Guo-feng Zhu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Guo-feng Zhu

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  1. Wen-xiong Jia
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  2. Xing-gang Ma
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  5. Dan Ding
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  6. Guo-feng Zhu
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Correspondence to Wen-xiong Jia.

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Jia, Wx., Ma, Xg., Xu, Xt. et al. Composition of stable isotope in precipitation and its influences by different vapor sources in the eastern Qilian Mountains. J. Mt. Sci. 15, 2207–2217 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-018-4844-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-018-4844-2

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