Isotopes in groundwater (2H, 18O, 14C) revealed the climate and groundwater recharge in the Northern China

Wanjun Jiang; Guangcai Wang; Yizhi Sheng; Zheming Shi; Hui Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.245

Isotopes in groundwater (²H, ¹⁸O, ¹⁴C) revealed the climate and groundwater recharge in the Northern China

Sci Total Environ. 2019 May 20:666:298-307. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.245. Epub 2019 Feb 17.

Authors

Wanjun Jiang¹, Guangcai Wang², Yizhi Sheng¹, Zheming Shi¹, Hui Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology & MOE Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Environment Evolution, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China; School of Water Resources & Environment, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology & MOE Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Environment Evolution, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China; School of Water Resources & Environment, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: wanggc@pku.edu.cn.

PMID: 30798239
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.245

Abstract

We collected 3275 sets of δD and δ¹⁸O and 1451 ¹⁴C data of groundwater in 14 basins or plains in the Northern China from the published sources in an attempt to investigate the isotopic characteristics of groundwater and their possible link with groundwater recharge and modern and past climate conditions in regional scales. The results showed that the deuterium excess of groundwater in the Monsoon regions were generally lower than that in the Westerly regions in the Northern China, reflecting the influences of different vapor sources and transmission modes. The δD and δ¹⁸O in groundwater lied closely to the Asian summer monsoon limit (ASML) were affected by both the Asian monsoon and Westerlies. The δD and δ¹⁸O of groundwater exhibited obvious latitude effect in the monsoon region, while it seemed to be dominated by the continental and elevation effects in the Westerly region both in the late Pleistocene and the Holocene. Based on the isotopic proxy records of climates, the depletion in ¹⁸O and D of the groundwater recharged in last glacial period in the late Pleistocene was observed which indicated that it was cooler especially in the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), while the ¹⁸O and D were enriched in groundwater recharged in the Holocene. The transition from the late Pleistocene to Holocene was characterized by higher frequency fluctuation of δ¹⁸O in the groundwater, probably suggesting that the climatic conditions were unstable. The groundwater recharge could be roughly divided into three main periods under relative warm and humid climates. The variation of regional climate was one of the driving forces for the recharge and regeneration of groundwater. Our results may enhance the understanding of groundwater recharge and its connection with the climate changes in the regional scales.

Keywords: Climatic changes; Groundwater recharge; Isotopic characteristics; The Holocene; The Northern China; The late Pleistocene.