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Isotope fingerprinting of precipitation associated with western disturbances and Indian summer monsoons across the Himalayas

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Abstract

Precipitation samples were collected across the Himalayas from Kashmir (western Himalaya) to Assam (eastern Himalaya) to understand the variation of the stable isotopic content (\(\updelta ^{18}\)O and \(\updelta \)D) in precipitation associated with two dominant weather systems of the region: western disturbances (WDs) and Indian summer monsoon (ISM). Large spatial and temporal variations in isotopic values were noted with \(\updelta ^{18}\)O and \(\updelta \)D values ranging from \(-30.3\) to and \(-228\) to , respectively. The d-excess values also exhibit a large range of variation from \(-30\) to . In general, heavier isotopic values are observed in most of the samples in Jammu, whereas lighter values are observed in majority of the samples in Uttarakhand. Precipitation at Jammu seems to have undergone intense evaporation while that from Uttarakhand suggest normal Rayleigh fractionation/distillation of the air mass as it moves from the source region to the precipitation site and/or orographic lifting. The d-excess of rainfall in Kashmir has a distinctly higher median value of compared to other precipitation sites with a median of . Using distinct isotopic signatures, the regions receiving precipitation from two different weather systems have been identified.

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Acknowledgements

Part of the sampling and analyses discussed in this study was undertaken under the aegis of IWIN National Program funded jointly by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, vide Grant No. IR/S4/ESF-05/2004 and the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL). Authors acknowledge the support of DST and PRL with gratitude. The valuable inputs and suggestions provided by the anonymous reviewers have improved the quality of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, 190006, India

    Ghulam Jeelani

  2. Geosciences Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, 380009, India

    R D Deshpande

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  1. Ghulam Jeelani
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  2. R D Deshpande
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Correspondence to Ghulam Jeelani.

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Corresponding editor: A K Sahai

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Jeelani, G., Deshpande, R.D. Isotope fingerprinting of precipitation associated with western disturbances and Indian summer monsoons across the Himalayas. J Earth Syst Sci 126, 108 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0894-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0894-z

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