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Stable Water Isotope Climate Archives in Springs from the Olympic Mountains, Washington
Citation:
SIDLE, W. C. AND V. Cvetic. Stable Water Isotope Climate Archives in Springs from the Olympic Mountains, Washington. Environmental Earth Sciences. Springer Berlin - Heidelberg, , Germany, 62(3):569-580, (2011).
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
The 18O and 2H (HDO) compositions are summarized for sampled springs (n = 81) within the Elwha watershed (≈ 692 km2) on the northern Olympic Peninsula. Samples, collected during 2001–2009, of springs (n = 158), precipitation (n = 520), streams (n = 176), and firn (n = 3) assisted the determinations for meteoric composition of recharge waters. The local mean water line (LMWL) is defined as δ2H = 8.2 δ18O – 9.3 for the watershed. Recharge history is surmised from groundwater ages ranging from 5 ± 3 years (apparent 85Kr) to 9,490 ± 420 14C cal years BP. About 56% of the springs were recharged over the last 1,000 years while 13% of springs were recharged over 5,000 years ago. Spring HDO values fluctuate between -11.8 to 15.6‰ δ18O and -90.9 to -119.4‰ δ2H. Deuterium excess values predominate around 4-6‰. The HDO proxy records from springs suggest a pronounced paleoclimate shift in air masses near 5,000 year BP on the Peninsula.
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STABLE WATER ISOTOPE CLIMATE ARCHIVES IN SPRINGS FROM THE OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS, WASHINGTON
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