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Global hydrological isotope data and data networks

Abstract:

Isotopes of light elements constitute a set of powerful and widely used environmental tracers that often provide unique information about hydrological, climatological, and ecological processes. Environmental isotopes are extensively used in groundwater and surface water hydrology, palaeoclimatic reconstructions, atmospheric circulation processes, ocean dynamics, archaeology, palaeontology, anthropology, ecology, food webs, forensics and food authentication. Basic data on spatial and temporal distribution of isotopes at varying scales in the different components of the water cycle are required for a meaningful application of these tracers. A major source of isotope data on a global scale has been provided since the 1960s by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which collects and disseminates isotope data and related hydrological information obtained as part of global or regional monitoring programmes and isotope hydrology studies. Available isotope data are gathered and compiled through global networks such as the global network of isotopes in precipitation (GNIP); global network of isotopes in rivers (GNIR); and moisture isotopes in biosphere and atmosphere (MIBA) network. In addition, global isotope data from surface waters and groundwaters are also being compiled. Other important hydrological isotope databases not covered by these networks are the Global Seawater Oxygen-18 Database; and GNIP-Antarctica, an extensive data set containing isotope composition of samples collected in Antarctic snow pits and ice cores. This chapter reviews the current status of and the basic information provided by global isotope networks and databases, and includes some examples of how such data are used to understand regional-to global-scale processes. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.