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Characteristics of isotope in precipitation, river water and lake water in the Manasarovar basin of Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

The stable hydrogen and oxygen of lake, river, rain and snow waters were investigated to understand the water cycle characteristics of the drainage basin of Manasarovar Lake in Tibet. Both δD and δ 18O of river water are larger than those of lake water and the effect of altitude on both δD and δ 18O is not very significant. This phenomenon was suggested to occur because Manasarovar basin is located in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau which has low latitude, high altitude, abundant glaciers, thin air and intensive solar radiation, resulting in higher evaporation in lake water.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40371006), National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2005CB422006) and the Innovation Project of the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The authors would like to thank anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments during the finalization of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A Datun Road, Anwai, Beijing, 100101, China

    Zhijun Yao, Jian Liu, He-Qing Huang, Xianfang Song, Xiaohui Dong & Xin Liu

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China

    Jian Liu, Xiaohui Dong & Xin Liu

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  1. Zhijun Yao
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  2. Jian Liu
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  3. He-Qing Huang
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  4. Xianfang Song
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  5. Xiaohui Dong
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  6. Xin Liu
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Correspondence to Zhijun Yao.

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Yao, Z., Liu, J., Huang, HQ. et al. Characteristics of isotope in precipitation, river water and lake water in the Manasarovar basin of Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Environ Geol 57, 551–556 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1324-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1324-y

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