Monthly data of stable isotopic composition (δ18O, δ2H) and tritium activity in precipitation from 2004 to 2017 in the Mecsek Hills, Hungary

Abstract

The stable isotopic composition (δ18O, δ²H) and tritium activity of monthly aggregated precipitation samples were collected between April 2004 and December 2017 at six sites representing the first published precipitation isotope dataset from the Mecsek Hills (Hungary). The dataset includes 697 stable isotopic and 653 tritium activity concentration data of monthly precipitation samples collected across the Mecsek Hills. At the beginning of the monitoring period, the isotopic composition values suggest an insufficient protection against evaporation and this issue has occasionally reappeared later only in limited periods. These data are presented in brackets in the Supplementary Table and should be disregarded from further analysis until additional verification. This dataset provides isotope hydrological benchmark in comparison with other local and regional datasets of stable isotopes and tritium activities in surface water and groundwater not only in the Mecsek Hills but also in the surroundings. It can support water resource management, and paleoclimatological research. Isotope hydrological evaluation and further discussion on the seasonal trends in the precipitation isotopic characteristics are in progress and the tritium data were used in the derivation of a gridded database (1 × 1 km) of amount-weighted annual mean precipitation tritium activity for the Adriatic-Pannonian Region (AP3H_v1, [1]).

Keywords

• Precipitation isotope monitoring
• 3H
• Oxygen isotopes
• Hydrogen isotopes
• D-excess
• Isotope hydrology