Areal Distribution of Deuterium in Eastern California Precipitation, 1968–1969

Abstract

Rain and snow were collected during major storms at 26 stations in California and Nevada during the exceptionally wet 1968–69 season. The deuterium/hydrogen ratios (δD, in per mil, VSMOW) of the samples varied according to the elevation of the sample site and its position relative to the Sierra Nevada. Eighteen storms were sampled at one or more stations. Eleven of them were sampled at almost all of 13 stations that lie east and southeast of the Sierra Nevada which allowed a storm-by-storm comparison of the influence of the topographic setting of the station and the synoptic meteorology of the storm on the δD characteristics of the precipitation. A model is presented that illustrates possible changes in δD values as a storm moves inland. It is calculated using probable starting values for moist air masses arriving from the Pacific and follows the meteorological and isotopic changes that should occur during adiabatic uplift, cooling and condensation. The model agrees satisfactorily with data from ... Abstract Rain and snow were collected during major storms at 26 stations in California and Nevada during the exceptionally wet 1968–69 season. The deuterium/hydrogen ratios (δD, in per mil, VSMOW) of the samples varied according to the elevation of the sample site and its position relative to the Sierra Nevada. Eighteen storms were sampled at one or more stations. Eleven of them were sampled at almost all of 13 stations that lie east and southeast of the Sierra Nevada which allowed a storm-by-storm comparison of the influence of the topographic setting of the station and the synoptic meteorology of the storm on the δD characteristics of the precipitation. A model is presented that illustrates possible changes in δD values as a storm moves inland. It is calculated using probable starting values for moist air masses arriving from the Pacific and follows the meteorological and isotopic changes that should occur during adiabatic uplift, cooling and condensation. The model agrees satisfactorily with data from ...