Use of Water Isotopes in Hydrological Processes

Abstract

Stable (16O, 17O, 18O, 1H, 2H) and radioactive (3H) isotopes in water are powerful tools in the tracking of the path of water molecules in the whole water cycle. In the last decade, a considerable number of studies have been published on the use of water isotopes, and the number continues to grow due to the development of new measurement techniques (i.e., laser absorption spectroscopy) that allow measurements of stable isotope ratios at ever-higher resolutions. Therefore, this Special Issue (SI) has been compiled to address current state-of-the-art water isotope methods, applications, and hydrological process interpretations and to contribute to the rapidly growing repository of isotope data important for future water resource management. We are pleased to present here a compilation of 14 papers reporting the use of water isotopes in the study of hydrological processes worldwide, including studies on the local and regional scales related either to precipitation dynamics or to different applications of water isotopes in combination with other hydrochemical parameters in investigations of surface water, snowmelt, soil water, groundwater, and xylem water to identify the hydrological and geochemical processes.

Keywords

• water cycle
• isotope hydrology
• measurement traceability
• precipitation (rain and snow)
• surface water
• groundwater