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Stable isotopes in river waters in the Tajik Pamirs: regional and temporal characteristics

Literature Reference
Peer Reviewed Literature
Authors

Meier, C., Knoche, M., Merz, R., Weise, S.M. 

Abstract

The Gunt River catchment in the Central Pamirs is a representative of the headwater catchments of the Aral Sea Basin. It covers 14,000 km2, spanning altitudes between 2000 and 6700 m a.s.l. In a monitoring network, water samples were taken at 30 sampling points every month and analysed for the stable water isotopes (18O and 2H). Our first results show δ2H values in the range from−131.2 to−94.9 ‰ and δ18O values from−18.0 to−14.0 ‰. The stable isotope patterns in the catchment seem to follow a systematic way, dominated by an altitude effect with a mean Δ δ2H=−3.6 ‰/100 m. The observed seasonal variations can be explained by geographical aspects such as the influence of different wind systems as well as melting processes.