Monitoring of stable isotopes (δ2H, δ18O) in precipitations of Moscow city (Russia): comparison for 2005–2014 and 1970–1979 periods

Abstract

The isotopic composition of oxygen (δ¹⁸O) and hydrogen (δ²H) of atmospheric precipitation in Moscow in 2005–2014 was studied by sampling single precipitations (a total of 842 measurements after rejection of unreliable samples). A comparison is made with similar studies carried out by VSEGINGEO and IVP RAS for the IAEA-WMO GNIP network in 1969–1979, when monthly average samples were taken by the accumulation method (61 pair determinations of deuterium and oxygen-18, mainly in 1975–1979). The 2005–2015 series is reduced to a similar form for the 1969–1979 series, recalculated through the data on the volume of precipitation at the nearest meteorological station. It was found that in the last decade there has been a significant change in the equation of the local line of meteoric waters, which for the first period had the form δ²H = 6.09×δ¹⁸O – 23.0 ‰ (R² = 0.87), and is currently described by the relation δ²H = 6.93×δ¹⁸O – 11.3 ‰ (R² = 0.944). There is also a decrease in depletion of the average values of δ²H and δ¹⁸O, compared with the first observation period, which apparently reflects the course of climatic changes. At the same time, within each of the periods, a negative (albeit relatively small) slope of the line of approximation of chronological data is noted. Deuterium excess naturally changes seasonally, taking negative values in summer, primarily due to non-equilibrium fractionation during evaporation. In 2005–2014, the temperature dependence of the isotopic composition of precipitation changed significantly in comparison with 1969–1979, which makes it impossible to reconstruct the composition of precipitation in the past from meteorological observations.

Keywords:

atmospheric precipitation, isotopic composition of oxygen and hydrogen, climate