PRECIPITATION IN THE CENTRAL AMAZON BASIN: ~ THE ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION OF RAIN AND ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE AT BELEM AND MANAUS (*} SUMMARY In order to improve the understan- ding of the water in the Amazon Basin, samples of rain and moisture were collec: ted daily at Belém and Manaus from Au gust 78 to January 80. All isotope data ‘are presented, The most depleted values, sometimes lower than ~ 100/00 in 5180 at Belém or Manaus, were encountered during the rainy season Wanuary-Apriy Possible causes of the seasonal dif ferences in tne isotope pattern are discus sed. INTRODUCTION The survey of the isotopic composition of rainfall in the Ama zon Basin by Salati et al. (1979) es o N. G. Ribeiro(2) M. Reis(4) ©.S. N, F, Tancredit4? R.Gat(5) tablished the importance of recy: cled water (I. e, of water returned locally to the atmosphere through transpiration or reevaporation) in the basin’s water balance. The “in land’ gradient of depletion of the heavy isotopic species (180 and 2H) was found to be much less than would be predicted by a ‘Rayleigh rainout- model", when considering the moisture flux ad vected from the ocean, on the one hand, and on the other hand the rain amounts along the flow path The data can be explained within the context of such a model only when re-evaporation is takon into account; this restores the atmos- pherie water content and its iso- } Resoarch supported by: International Atomic Eneray Agenoy (IAEA; Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas e Desenvolvimento (CNPq); Financiadora de Estudos ¢ Projetos (FINEP) Secretaria de Ciéncia e Tecnologia do Estado de S40 Paulo Comissdo Nacional de Energia Nuclear (CNEN). The authors also indebted to Therezinha Xavier Bastos and Tatiana Deane de Abreu $8 Diniz (EMBRAPA-Belém, by her help In sample collection at Belém. (1) CENA-CNEN. Piracicaba (2) CENA~ESALO, Piracicaba (3) INPA, Manaus (4) 1DESP, Bolim (5) Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot. AGTA AMAZONIA 13(2): 907-309. 1983 = 07topic composition to some extent {Dall’6lio, 1976), However, a mar- ked seasonal pattern which affects different regions in the besin to dif- ferent dearees; — the large scatter in the isotopic content of monthly precipitation data from year to year (AFA, 1981) which, as shown in Fig. 1, are much larger within the basin than at other coastal stations to the north (Cayenne) or south (Natal) of the region: ~ the large differences in the isotopic compo- sition of precipitation from rather closely spaced stations during any perticular period; -- all these sug gested a complexity of the system which is not properly accounted In the simple models and not explici tly visualised in the composite mon: thly samples (which were the data base for the former studies). This then prompted the initiation of a more detailed sampling program, based on daily collection of both rain and atmospheric moisture. Two years of isotopic data are now available from Belém and Manaus and are presented in this paper. Sampling of some rainshowers at 10, minute intervals has been done by Matsui (private communication) and a vertical profile of the deute rium content of water vapour in the lower atmosphere is available for a couple of days at Belém. MATERIALS AND METHODS Rain sampling was conducted through the use of standard W. M ©. raingauges, usually for 8 period of one day starting at 8:00 AM. 08 — Moisture samples were collec: ted by drawing the ambient air through a trap, cooled by a dry ive = ethanol mixture, as shown in Fig. 2. The airflow was adjusted by means of a capillary to 150 liter/ hour and monitored by a flowme ter; placing the capillary within the flowpath also resulted in establis- hing low pressure (10 torr) in the trap. The trap which was 40 mm ir diameter and 260 mm long, was im: mersed only partially in the dry-ice mixture, As a result the gas cools gradually (from top to bottom) and thus the formation of suspended ice particles is avoided, minimizing the water loss. In a laboratory study it was shown thet the system can col lect up to 30g of water without loss and without blocking the flow or distorting the Isotopic composi tion Collection was carried out from 9: 00 AM to 3:00 PM (6 hou: 5 duration); at the end of the pe- riod stopeock No. 1 was closed but pumping was continued for 3 more minutes before closing stopcock No, 2. The sample was then va cuum-transferrad into the sample bottle A, by cooling it with a water- ice mixture and leaving trap T at room temperature, The accumule- ted sample was then poured off in- toa storaye container. Analysis of the oxigen—18 and deuterium (2H) content was perfo: med at the laboratories of CENA Using standard methods. Results are expressed in 6 (O/g9) units vs, the Matsui ot aFig. 1 — Mean monthly isotope composition (6 189) of the rain at the IAEA net work stations of Belém, Fortaleza, Natal, Manaus and Cayenne. Error bar ives reproducibility of the monthly mean valuo from year to yea fag at ‘end of error bar measures its magnituda in units of C/o. Prociptation — 309® Pome Fig, 2 ~ System for vapour opllection: T = cold trap; A — storage reservoir. Flowmeter weer 310 Matsui et al.SMOW standard (Gonfiantini, 1981) for 180 and 2H, From these 5 units one calculates the value of the "d" parameter (the deuterium excess parameter) as d=5 2H — 8* » 180, which is @ paranwter related to the moisture origin (Gat, 1981), THE DAILY RAIN AND VAPOUR. SAMPLING PROGRAM The isotopic data from the daily rain and vapour collectivn program at Relém and Manaus are given in Table No. 1. and plotted in Figs. 3 and 4, The period covered extends from August 1978 to May 1981 for the rain sampling program and between August 1978 and July 1980 in the case Of Lhe vapour col lection. The year of 1979 presented an exceptionally dry winter, and this manifests itself in the scarcity of the precipitation data from Ma naus for these months. a) Precipitation: The monthly averaged 6180 and ““d-oxcess” data (amount wei giited) of the precipitation samples are shown in Figs. 5 and 6; the stan. dard deviation shown is the mesure of the scatter of data for the indivi ual rain events which make up each monthly average (again amour weighted). Thie then has a quite dif- ferent meaning from the error bar given in Fig. 1, which is @ measure of the repruducibility of the mean monthly values from different rain years; it is of interest though to no- Proviptation te that the seasonal distribution of the variance of the daily samples follows the same trend as establis hed by the monthly IAEA data, na- mely a larger scatter during the summer (rainy) period: summer is the period of more depleted isoto- pic values throughout the basin Duriny the period October 1070 to May 1980 the variance of the data is so large that the inland gradient of isotopic composition between Belém and Manaus appears to be masked by this scatter, ‘Another notable feature (Fig 6) is a distinct positive deviation in the value of the "d-excoss" parame: ‘er at Manaus, expecially during the winter months. At Belém, on the other hand, the fluctuations in “a” are random, with a year round eve. rage of close to d = 102/00 for the period of 1978-80. The long term averages (1965—76), as summarized by the [AEA(1981) , are d=5.79/00 and d = 13.89/00, respectively, at Belém and Manaus; in these data ‘one alsn discerns a seasonal pattern at Manaus, whereas the data from Belém seem to scatter in a random fashion throught the year Peruisal of the data for the in: dividual daily samples now enables us to understand the structure whi ch pervades those phenomena: At Belém, most of the data range bet ween 5180 = 20/00 to + 19/00 throughout the year. However, du: ring the months of January (occa: sionally even in December} to April (May) there are periods of a few = 31Fig 3~ 180 cata of the usily sais {upper curvescireles) and vapaur {lower curves: circles) and vapour (lower curvesriangles) collection progam at Belém Rain amounts. (mm/clay) are shown on top. days with very depleted isotopic va- lues, extending to values as low as 5180 =~ 100/00, At Manaus, where ‘on the average 6180 values are de- a2 plowed by 120/00 relative to tho: se at Belém, the pattern is even mo- re complicated: negative excursions appear already during the months Matsui et alof October—December, (vid. espe- cially the 1979 data) which have no analogue in the Belém data; during the rainy period or January to May, ‘on the other hand, the depleted iso- topic values at Manaus are recorded in-step with those at Belém, usually with a delay of a couple of days. One notes further, that during Iviarch to May the Isotopic values in rain at Manaus never revert back to the unperturbed levels but re main depleted relative to these le- vels, The pattorn doseribed is ro peated generally from year to year. The frequency distribution diagram (Fig, 7) visualizes the data structure at both stations. Evidently the dis tribution is far from normal during part of the year, and thus the mon- thly average is then not necessarily a meaningful number, b) Atmospheric moisture The data from the moisture collection program at Belém and Manaus have been given in Table No. 1 and are shown on Figs. 3 and 4 (— the lower curves). Mon- thly averaged data are plotted in Fig. 8. The following are some note worthy features of these data = Ina general way the isoto- pic precipitation and vapour cur- ves run in porallel, Negative exeur- sions in the rain data have their multaneous equivalents in the va pour curves. Precipitation, — The (monthly averaged) vapour data show a similar seaso. nal pattern as the precipitation da ta (Fig. 5). however with a reduced amplitude. Most significantly, there is no consistent “inland” (continen tel) gradient between Belém and Manaus, — The mean d—excess over the entire period is about 11.26 and 11.76, rospoctivoly, at Belém and Manaus; again the difference bet ‘ween these two stations is subdued in the vepour dataywhen compared to the precipitation. In this respect it is significant that the average dif- ference in the ““d” values between rain and vapour on the rain days are 75°loo and 3.6°/00 at Belém and Manaus respectively (for the period of Aug. 78—June 79, for which comparable data are available at these two stations). Obviously the Belém data for vapour and rain are In accord one with another, but at Manaus precipitation is characteri sed by a significant positive devia tion in the “d”” — parameter. c) The relationship between vapour and precipitation data Table No. 2 gives the monthly averaged difference in isotopic va- lues between precipitation and va- pour on rain days (thedifferences between averaged precipitation and monthly average vapour data inclu: ding nonrain days, are shown in pa- renthesis). Grosso-modo the preci: pitation at Belém is close to equili- brium with ambient moisture at a a0Fig. 4 — 180 date of the daily rain (upper curver-circlet) and vapour (lower curves triangles) collection program at Manaus. Rain amounts (mm/day) aro shown on top. temperature of 25C (using the da- ta of Majoube (1971) for the tem- perature coefficient uf a%— the iso- topic fractionation factor for the au liquid water-vapour phase transi: tion), a remarkably close agreement with the ambient temperature va lue. Matsui et aTABLE CAPTIONS TABLE No. 1 —Oaily rain and vapour isotopic data at Belém and Manaus Precipitation BVIB. MV18 — 5180 valus of the atmospheric moisture at Belém and Manaus respectively. 8V2, MV2 ~ 52H value of the atmospheric moisture at Belém and Manaus respectively. DVB, DVM ~ “a parameter value of the atmospheric moisture samplns at Belém and Manaus, respectively. BP, MP ~ Precipitation amounts in mms, at Belém and Manaus, respectively, BPI8, MP1 ~ 5180 values of daily precipitation semples at Belém and Manaus, respectively. BP2, MP2 — 62H values of dally precipitation samples at Belém and Manaus, respectively. PB, PHM — “a parameter values of daily precipitation samples at Belém and Manaus, respectively, Monthly mean values of these parameters and their standard devia tions are given st the end of each month's dat For the vapour data the mean values are simple arithmetic averages Precipitation means are amount weighted, ~ a8BELEM DATA : AUGUST 1978 DAY BVi8 BV2 DVB BP BPIB BP2 DPB 1 9,2 -66 7.6 oO 2-917 -63 1816 0 3-3-6012 ° 49.3 63 1140 5 0 6 9 7 16 3-4 1 The 8 0 9.2 ° 15.6 oO 12.6 V7 -.6 9 13.8 0 So a 15 1.2 20 2 43 3 9.4 6 #3 6 10.8 2 2a nig -7 B12 & 408 -15 3 15 10,7 2 9 0.6 23.7 -3.4 -15 12.2 12.8 32.2 -1.2 8 17.8 7 oe 6 39.8 -1.5 3 15 a) 1.3 120 1@ 3. 12 10. 6 3 W 1, 20 & T= 2 10.8 TOTAL PRECIPITATION = 223 MM MEANBVIB MEAN8V2 MEANDVB« AWMBP18.«— AWMOPS: “10 62.4 11.5 1.09 14.2 STNDBVIa —STNDBV2—STNDDVB_STOAWP18—STOAWOPO. 1.03 10.0 3.0 1.06 2.0 316 ~ Matsui et al.MANAUS DATA : AUGUST 1978 DAY MVIS. 1 2 3 4 -10.9 5-104 6 7 8 3 10 =11,.6 nh =10.5 12 -$.7 3 rs 5 16 W -10.1 $ ave -80 -2B byw, Mi 7 TOTAL PRECIPITATION IS MEANMvie. aneiees “10,23 STNOMVI8 a0 Precipitation... MEANNUE “70.3 stNoMv2 65 ‘MEANDVM 14.53 sTNDDVM. ant iP MP1a -2.5 3.6 50.6 MM AWMNP IO. Dat SDAWMPIB, 1.03 mp2 DPM 7 3 H4B8 “10 18.8 AWMDPM 14.88 SDAWOPM 2.81 =aBELEM DATA : DAY B18 4 =10.6 Ho W949 5 10,7 6 -9.6 7 WwW u 12 15 16 1 c OTA MEANBVI8 9.82 stnpBvie ae — 92 By? SEPTEMBER 1978 vB Be 69 ECIPITATION = MEANBV2 87.2 ‘sTwoBve 8.3 15.8 16.2 15.8 13.8 MEANDVS. 11.3 stNoDvB 3.2 BP18 «oaeee AWMBPIB, -.83 STDAWPI, 89 BP2 DPB FREER cenae 5 4.2 2 13.2 12 10.4 3 1.6 3 2.2 2115.4 15 7 9 16.2 3 612 40 WwW 10.2 1215.2 “2 1 5 12.2 waa 5 1812 awn 8.5 stoawore Bt Matsui ot slMANAUS DATA : SEPTEMBER 1978 pew a. Wy 2 ‘ DAY MVIB oMV2 DVM MP MP1S MP2 4-107 -72 13.6 0 2 0 3 0 i a 5 39 -.1 0015 é 29.6 0 N18 7 ° a 13 5 9 2.8 5 : { 0 o a Q 0 9 ° 0 0 ® ° BUH 28-8 ° 22.4 -2.4 -3 4G war TOTAL PRECIPITATION IS MEANMVIa MEANMV2 MEANDVM = AWMMPI8_AWMOPM: “10.69 73.2 12.3 “1,60 14.69 STNDMV18 STNDMV2 STNDDVM — SDAWMPYe. SDAWOPM 1.08 12.5 4.8 1.49 1.49 Procipitation... =mBELEN DATA : OCTOBER 1978 DAY BYIg BY2 DVB BP BP16 BP2 DPB CG Fr Ge oorek GR ne mene ° 68 9.6 9 “67 820 “63 6.6 16.4 =.8 7 13.4 -66 BK 2M 11 1B aD? “17 10.20 3.9 -.8 5 118 T9732 oy 15 13 “13 10,2 Ww <1. -6 2.8 -72 W.2 15.9 =1,1 3 17.8 -19 10.6 9 69 9.6 0 1.2 7 1 12,4 o 23.50 -1 109 “67 8.2000 ~68 1716 0 a7 6.2 o -66 9.2 16.8 -2.7 6 15,6 “715 10.60 T9410 8.8 22 10.2 1.9 2 13.2 23 ° au 7.8 -59 Be 2 28. 4 2% -1.7 87 68. 27 -10.1 -67 13.8 0 1, 3 ze 2 2g 3. 30 Ta 13. & 3 1-88 10, 8 TOTAL PRECIPITATION = 399 MM MPANBVI8 MEANBV2 — MEANOVB AWMBPIB.— AWMDPS: “10.05 © -70.7 3.6 “1.62 9.5 STNDBVIs STNDBV2-STNDDVB_-«STDAWP1g_—STOAWDPB 1.07 8 2.8 2.31 12.7 320 — Matsui et al.MANAUS DATA : 0 TOBER 1976 DAY mvIg MV2 DWM MP OMPIG MP2 DPM 1 -31 ? co 2 7 7 a 3 -17 12.6 o 3.7 13 17.8 10,2 V4 = -3 5 wo age ls a0, 238 0 8 a. 12.9 0.6 a 6. : we oO 1.3 4 8 WA2 ° ° 0 6 5 30.8 -1,4 8 2312 =316 <1 0 4 “8 ie “5 we 0 1% 3 We 0 fp 62.2 -5.2 | Phy) & 5 0 | ‘ou u 0 | T -17.4 -122 17.2 oO 8 8 wd 2 6.8 9 3 10 “91 9.8 10 6 n ° 12 2h 91 6012.8 1 o 47 19.3 ° 1 | a5. a4 83 | -14 3 o | | 2147 0 | f ° | [] 5.2 -2.9 | | a i] 0 x J 1) 5 2.8 “11.6 | f] 4 5 | so. 3 If 1 -3.7 | i || sos ; I nie of Pu UU TOTAL 242 8M MEANMVI8 MEANMV2 MEANDVM AWMMP1a AWMOPM 13.33 100.44 14.85.69 11.3 STNDMVI6 STNDMV2STNDDVM —SDAWMPIS SDAWDPM 2.63 19.48 34 2.32 2.6 Precipitation, 8686 — BELEM DATA MAY DAY BVIB BY ee ee 1A 2 | 10 n 12 3) | 44 5 16 7 18 19 20 | ar | 22 | 23 5 26 21 28 29 30 cs x a S 1980 DYB BP BP18.-BP2 DPB s dee reek oe ° Nn : | 21.6 -3.2 | 86-15 | 7 | J 420.2 -17 | Wig “als | 16.2 0 i ° | 16-21 | 29 4 | | | | | 3.8 -2.5 } 4 a4 V7 | 19° 19 | We 8 wa 1 “8 143 | | ol yore ft | - Sa TOTAL PRECIPITATION = 190.6 om MEANBV18 0.3 ‘eTNDBVIS 7 MEANBV2, 62 ‘stwoove 17 MEANDVB AWMBPIa. AWMDPB. Veeeees fonaxen Coneey 15.30 4.9 7.6 STNDDVB STDAWPia.STDAWDPD 90 1.13 0 Matsui et al.MANAUS DATA : MAY 1980 DAY MVI8 -MV2 DM MP oMP18. MP2 DPM 2-14 0 3 ') 15.6 y 0 5 [| 3.5 6 0 im 7 -10.6 5.8 8-14 0 9 -10.3 o Ww 3 u o 12 -88 20 o 3 55 16.2 0 a 5112.2 7 6 61 338 13.8 16 66 16.8 8 | 7 o | | 18 o, | | wn 0 | \ 20-3 o 7 21-10 12.2 2 9 0 23-10 wo -1, au 0 25 ° 2-9 0 a7 o i 26-7 5 = | 29 3 | 30-8 to 8 31 28 -3.8 Ll TOTAL PRECIPITATION IS 106.3 MM MEANMVIa -MEANMV2 MEANDVM AWMMPIaAWMDPM “10.05 65.68 14.7 2.2309 8.80 STNOMV18 —STNDMV2STNDDVA4-SDAWMP18- SDAWDPM. 4.42 10.67 2.4 1.4 1.97 Precipitation — 357PRECIPITATION DATA: JUNE 1980 BELEM DATA MANAUS DATA BIS BP2 DPB MP OMPI8. MP2 DPR feet ny ane ener ren ane ones Cc co edacoccv0Mcuckonooe 23 7 3025.9 J) CF sum = 165.9 85 ‘AWMBP18. AWMDPB AWRIMPI8 AWMDPM 1.47 TAG 0-41.69 18.6 SDAWBPI8 STDAWDPB SDAWMP18 STDAWOPM 1.31 92 1.13 3.51 358 — Mateui ot alPRECIPITATION DATA. JULY 1980 BELEM DATA vanaUs DATA DAY BP BP18 BP2 DPB MP OMP1B MP2) DPM PHoogia then ges oantne vette Gene ray enete 0 od aT -.6 0 19.6 -1.2 a “15 6 18 3.5 ° rio 2 1.5 4 10, 1.4 | a9.2 1k | on 9 0 24 . 32.6 ° { ° | U 12.4 =] i Q 6 2 | | 2% 28 -7 1 | | at ° : | oD U 2g 4 5 5 9 Be 31 0 SUM = 174 66.4 AWMBPI8. —AWMDPB— AWMIMP18 AWMDPM. “04 14.47 4.89 10.85 ‘SDAwaPi9 STOAWOPA SDAWMP10.STDAWDPM 40 1.56 1.47 3.98 Precipitation... — 380TABLE No. 2 Mean difference between the “dl” parameter and 8180 of the preci- pitation and vapour at Belém | 2 (OP3—DVB) end A (BP18— BV10}, respectively | and at Manaus [6 (DPM—DVM} end ‘A (MP18-MV18)]. Data given are for rin days only, (number of cases averaged “nis given in brackets). The average aference bet: ween the total monthly amount weightad data for preciitation land of the mean monthly vapour samples are given in square brac- kets BeLew wawaus tenth (oreo) UBS -evIE) KOO OND gQEDEMO) (er an ta) in be) ug. 1878 (8.9) 6.00 1.1 mez) ton? Sept. 3978 18.2) 6s $2 (oes) Bisa fet. 3578 ooze 7) la soimn neo Nov. 1978 sao (87) 5. #.560.8 [8.11 Dee, 1878 9.701.7 (8.6) 10.342.6 [f.5) ran. 3979 sure 19.5) : eos. 1979, 0.052-0 (7.2) 0.24 4.6 (oa) 5.91 vech 1979 9551.9 [8.6] 5.64 5.6 (ant) (6.7) spr. 1978 sess (e]szs80.9 ces) ba nay 1979 8521.2 WO] 3.15 5.0 (ne) 6.23 ane 1978 8.51.4 (9.91 0.7212-0 (naz) ben gay 979 este. [8.3] : ws) bo. 1979 9.5:0.8 [8.9] : ~ (8.8) Sept, 1979 lots (8.6) : : ous. 1979 8,928.8 [9.9] . : Nov, 1979 . Mosel 0.6) 24 (me). 18.6 Dee, 1978 ieee - . averare 0.6821.67 ° 26.2 244 0 17 4649.0), (8.884, At Manaus, (where alas statis- ties is poorer because of the redu- ced nember of rain days) there are ‘occasional days where the differen- ce between rain and vapour Isotopic composition appears to be signifi cantly less than the equilibrium va- ue for any reasonable temperature, 380 — 7 Indeed, the absence of a continen- tal isotope effect in the vopour de- ta, noted before, necessarily will result in such a situation in view of 120/00 continental effect found for the isotopic composition of the precipitation between Belém and Manaus.We cannot completely rule out a sampling artifact in these data; some rain droplets may have found their way into the vapour-sampling orifice. A more reasonable explana. tion, however, is the incomplete Precipitation Overlap of the sampling periods of the rain and vapour collections. The detailed sampling of rain and va- Pour at 10 minute intervals, the de- ta for which are given in’ Fig, 9, (private comm.) has indeed shown — 361Olt . Oe (°%) Ss80x2 |p Matsui et al. 362PP WwPIG ~ 0 (1eme1U! 00/05'0) salute noden pur (°%103, 2 zo a oe om Bra ~~ noton — zo z be 8 lr aby SAL POP oor wo ving ———— snodon —— ew ~ 0 1p houanbasy — Ywwowyseso9 jo saquinyy 300 Precipitation...March 79 —— tin ———— : | fe \ 2 ity | =< | Ns df Lew 8 ig {8 at pel a 4 + ov ° yjuowsaso9 30 QUINN, 364 — » g 3 2 Fig. 7b Matsui ot al-ata er oO en be 3- 8- Ol- ele vi- [—r=r WI 17 T = v 62 ony J vin —— i nodoa. — “8 — xs uow/ $8s09 jo Jequiny ProcipitationAV ud ay aaa Ne 30 |AON, 490 as ony Ane noe ANN yav dew ead Nve 30 AON 490 as ony o Oo = ws YF wo © BS (°%)0,, (0%)8599%0 - \978 —-—— 1979 ———_+— 1980. ‘d” — parameter at bottom of the 0. Fig, 8 — Monthly averaged isotopic values of daily vapour samples at Belém and Manaus (6180 values in upper curves, = 0; Menous dat Figure}. Belém date Matsui ot al.'s sainusw OL) Oo Alsroauejnus o uonssodwos adaosy — 6 61.4 snaueyy ae siamoys Bung sayswes Ure te te - 08 o 8 ago o00 Mog z or or oz ahh, foe: “ye rr rr a qo 8 3 s Soe $s eS Fs 4 3 ; < 3 \ usu dt = 36 Precipitation.that the onset of rain is often asso- clated with a marked change in the isotopic composition of the vapour, in such @ way that equilibrium bet ween rain and the vapour is main tained, Whether this change results from the downward transport of isotopes by the rain or the mixing effect between surface and higher air layers by convective motions, re- mains to be established. It is clear, however, that the “apparent non- equilibrium” between air and rain data is related to a spatial inhomo- geneity in the isotopic composition DISCUSSION We note at least three seasons in tho hydro-meteorology of the Central Amazon basin. The period from June until la te September is one with few fluc: tuations in the mean isotopic com position of both rain and vapour; values range within less than + 19/00 around the average value. The ne- riod is one of moderate rains, usual- ly less than 25mm per day, and the data indicate @ rather homogenous hydromass. This is the season whe- rein the “regional model” (Salati et al., 1979) seems to apply best, Re-eveporation within the basin makes up the rainout deficit, as is confirmed also by an increase of the “a” parameter from Belém to Manaus (This latter offect is soon most clearly in the 1979 rain and the 1980 vapour data) During the period of October to November we witness the occa- 308 — sional appearance of negative ex cursions in the isotopic data, espe: cially at Manaus, which are uncor related with events at the other sta tion (for example in Nov. 79). The se occurrences possibly are related to the incidence of storm systems (polar fronts) which approach from the south and do not follow the usual pattern of east-to-west mo- tion, Obviously this period is not amenable to modelling by the afo- re-mentioned model, nor can one expect to soe the offects of ro-ova. poration in these systems. Indeed the value of the “d'excess pare meter of the Nov. 79 precipitation event is close to the average of d = 10%o0. Incidentally, these ca- ses of relatively low 5 values cor- respond to strong {but not extre- me) rainfalls, up to about 75 mm/ day The rainy season between Ja- nuery-April, (ocassionally exten: ding from December to May) is characterised by periods with ex tremely depleted isotopic values. During this season the events at Manaus clasely follow those at Be- lém, on the average with a delay of a couple of days. This indicates the predominence of the east-to-west air motion; the phenomena, whate- ver their cause, sweep across the ba: sin from the Atlantic coast. Salati at al. (1979) associate the very low isotopic values with the position of the ITCZ near the mouth of the Amazon, In any event this is @ max jor large scale effect and atmosphe- Motsui otric isotopic levels rarely revert back to the undisturbed marine values during this period. In spite of the isothermy of ‘the area and lack of clearcut fron- tal systems, the date suggest that many of the rainy episodes are re- lated to events imposed on the ba- sin from outside and that only the winter period is predominantly in- fluenced by the internal processes within the basin, Presumably then, winter is the season whose precipi- tation pattern would be most in- fluenced by any deforestation pro- gram in the basin. Resume No periodo de agosto de 1978 a jz seiro de 1980, foram feitas coletas dia Flas ge amostras de Sguos de chuva e de ‘vapor o §gua do ac em Bolém e Manaus, 8 fim de empliar 0s conhecimentos a cerca Gin pardmetros ligaas a0 clo da dua na bacia Amazénica. Estdo spresentados os dados Isot0picos referents as amostres. Os valores mais negativos ocorreram di ante o periodo chuvoso ljaneiro-abil), atingindo muites vezes, valoras do 8180, monores do que ~ 109/09. Séo discut dias as possivess causas dessas. compos REFERENCES DALLOLIO, A. 1976 A composi¢do isotopica das precipitacdes do Brasil: Modelos isotermicos & a in Precipitation. . ‘luoncia da evapotranspire gio na Bacia Amazonica. Mt, Se, thesis, Univ. So Paulo. GAT, LR. 1981 — The Isotopes of of nycro: gen and oxygen in precipi- tation. In: Handbook of Environmental Ieotope Geochemistry — Fritz & Fontes, editors p.21-44. GONFIANTINIA, 1981 ~ The ~ notation and the ‘mass spectrometric measure ment tochniques. Chaptor 4 Jn Stable Isotope Hyaro- logy ~ Gat & Gontiantini, eds, LA EA. p. 35:84, Ty 1981 — Statistical treatment ot en- vironmental isotope data in precipitation, Technical Report 206, 9. 250, IAEA, ‘Vienna (1981). MAJOUBE, M. 1971 — Fractionment en Oxige- ne — 18 et an Deuterium entre 1” eau et sa vapeur. J. Chem. Phys, 681423. 1426. SALATI, £.; DALLOLIO, A; MATISUL, £, GAT, J. 197 ~ Recycling of water in the Amazon Basin: an Isotopic study. Water Resources Res,, 15: 1250-1258. (Accito para publicaro em 03/01/82). — 369