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Linkage between precipitation isotopes and water vapor sources in the monsoon margin: Evidence from arid areas of Northwest China

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Abstract

The isotope composition in precipitation has been widely considered as a tracer of monsoon activity. Compared with the coastal region, the monsoon margin usually has limited precipitation with large fluctuation and is usually sensitive to climate change. The water resource management in the monsoon margin should be better planned by understanding the composition of precipitation isotope and its influencing factors. In this study, the precipitation samples were collected at five sampling sites (Baiyin City, Kongtong District, Maqu County, Wudu District, and Yinchuan City) of the monsoon margin in the northwest of China in 2022 to analyze the characteristics of stable hydrogen (δD) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopes. We analyzed the impact of meteorological factors (temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity) on the composition of precipitation isotope at daily level by regression analysis, utilized the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT)-based backward trajectory model to simulate the air mass trajectory of precipitation events, and adopted the potential source contribution function (PSCF) and concentration weighted trajectory (CWT) to analyze the water vapor sources. The results showed that compared with the global meteoric water line (GMWL), the slope of the local meteoric water line (LMWL; δD=7.34δ18O−1.16) was lower, indicating the existence of strong regional evaporation in the study area. Temperature significantly contributed to δ18O value, while relative humidity had a significant negative effect on δ18O value. Through the backward trajectory analysis, we found eight primary locations that were responsible for the water vapor sources of precipitation in the study area, of which moisture from the Indian Ocean to South China Sea (ITSC) and the western continental (CW) had the greatest influence on precipitation in the study area. The hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in precipitation are significantly influenced by the sources and transportation paths of air mass. In addition, the results of PSCF and CWT analysis showed that the water vapor source areas were primarily distributed in the south and northwest direction of the study area.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42161007), the Scientific Research Program for Higher Education Institutions of Gansu Province (2021B-081), and the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (22JR5RA074).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Geography and Environmental Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Fenli Chen, Qiuyan Zhang, Shengjie Wang, Jufan Chen & Minyan Gao

  2. Key Laboratory of Resource Environment and Sustainable Development of Oasis of Gansu Province, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Fenli Chen, Qiuyan Zhang, Shengjie Wang, Jufan Chen & Minyan Gao

  3. School of Ocean and Earth Science, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Mohd Aadil Bhat

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  1. Fenli Chen
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Contributions

Conceptualization: CHEN Fenli, ZHANG Qiuyan; Data curation: ZHANG Qiuyan, GAO Minyan, CHEN Jufan; Methodology: CHEN Fenli, WANG Shengjie; Formal analysis: CHEN Fenli; Writing - original draft preparation: CHEN Fenli, ZHANG Qiuyan; Writing - review and editing: CHEN Fenli, ZHANG Qiuyan; Funding acquisition: CHEN Fenli, WANG Shengjie; Visualization: CHEN Fenli, WANG Shengjie, Mohd Aadil BHAT. All authors approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shengjie Wang.

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Chen, F., Zhang, Q., Wang, S. et al. Linkage between precipitation isotopes and water vapor sources in the monsoon margin: Evidence from arid areas of Northwest China. J. Arid Land 16, 355–372 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-024-0095-y

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