• Stable water isotope signatures of dual monsoon precipitation: A case study of Greater Cochin region, south-west coast of India

• # Fulltext

https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/jess/128/08/0210

• # Keywords

Stable water isotopes; LMWL; $d$-excess; back-trajectory; monsoon; Greater Cochin

• # Abstract

Precipitation samples of various spatio-temporal scales were collected from coastal, midland and urban regions of Greater Cochin, Ernakulam district, Kerala for a period of 1 yr (2015–2016). The collected samples were analysed for stable water isotopes (SWI) ($\delta\rm{D}$ and $\delta^{18}\rm{O}$), to understand these variations in the precipitation source and the factors governing its isotopic characteristics during precipitation. The $\delta^{18}O$ in rainwater varies from -8.73 per thousand to 0.29 per thousand in urban, -12.21 per thousand to 2.59 per thousand in midland and -9.99 per thousand to 0.97 per thousand in lowland regions. Spatio-temporal variations in SWI were observed in various regions, suggesting altitude and continental effect followed by the establishment of a regional overall local meteoric water line (LMWL) $\delta\rm{D}$ = $8.06 (\pm0.15)\delta^{18}O + 12.5 (\pm0.68)$. Among the coastal, midland and urban regions, the highest slope ($\sim8.3$) and intercept($\sim13.0$) were observed in the urban region, which designates the variations in temperature along spatial and different layers of the atmosphere in the urban region, resulting in the deviation of isotopic characteristics.The overall deuterium excess ($d$-excess) value is $\sim10$ per thousand during the south-west monsoon (June–September), suggesting a moisture source of marine origin. A $d$-excess of $\sim13$ per thousand is observed during the north-east monsoon, indicating a moisture source from the continental contribution (October–December). The results of the moisture source obtained from the $d$-excess value are also supported by back-trajectory analysis. Thus, the present study on isotopic characterisation of precipitation and its controlling factor may enhance our understanding of the Indian monsoon and its dynamics in the west coast region of India.

• # Author Affiliations

1. National Centre for Earth Science Studies, Akkulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695 011, India.
2. National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Headland Sada, Vasco-da-Gama, Goa 403 804, India.
3. Center for Water Resource Management and Development, Calicut, Kerala 695 121, India.
4. Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Amingaon, North Guwahati, Assam 781 039, India.

• # Journal of Earth System Science

Volume 130, 2021
All articles
Continuous Article Publishing mode

• # Editorial Note on Continuous Article Publication

Posted on July 25, 2019