Record Details

Variations of δ¹⁸O in rainwater from southwestern Oregon

ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

Field Value
Title Variations of δ¹⁸O in rainwater from southwestern Oregon
Names Ersek, Vasile (creator)
Mix, Alan C. (creator)
Clark, Peter U. (creator)
Date Issued 2010-05-13 (iso8601)
Abstract We examine the relation between δ¹⁸O in rainwater collected in southwestern Oregon
and climate variables including temperature, parcel trajectory, precipitation amount, and
specific humidity. Local surface air temperature at the time of sample collection explains a
large proportion of δ¹⁸O variability, suggesting that paleoclimatic archives that are related
to rainfall δ¹⁸O should be useful for qualitative temperature reconstructions. Models of
Rayleigh distillation of air masses originating in the North Pacific can broadly constrain
the observed isotopic variability in southwestern Oregon. Results from a Hybrid Single‐
Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model suggest that recent parcel pathways
have little influence on the isotopic composition of precipitation collected at our site. We
also find no significant relation between rainfall d18O and precipitation amount. Changes
in specific humidity along the parcel tracks, however, indicate that the water vapor
exchange of the air mass with the underlying ocean influenced the isotopic composition of
the most enriched samples.
Genre Article
Topic δ¹⁸O in rainwater
Identifier Ersek, V., A. C. Mix, and P. U. Clark (2010), Variations of δ¹⁸O in rainwater from southwestern Oregon, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D09109, doi:10.1029/2009JD013345.

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