Isotope hydrology

Isotope hydrology[1] is a field of geochemistry and hydrology that uses naturally occurring stable
and radioactive isotopic techniques to evaluate the age and origins of surface and groundwater and
the processes within the atmospheric hydrologic cycle.[2] Isotope hydrology applications are highly
diverse, and used for informing water-use policy, mapping aquifers, conserving water supplies,
assessing sources of water pollution, and increasingly are used in eco-hydrology to study human
impacts on all dimensions of the hydrological cycle and ecosystem services.

Details[edit]
Water molecules carry unique isotopic "fingerprints", based in part on differing ratios of
the oxygen and hydrogen isotopes that constitute the water molecule. Isotopes are atoms of the
same element that have a different number of neutrons in their nuclei.
Air, freshwater and seawater contain mostly oxygen-16 ( 16O). Oxygen-18 (18O) occurs in
approximately one oxygen atom in every five hundred and has a slightly higher mass than oxygen-
16, as it has two extra neutrons. From a simple energy and bond breakage standpoint this results in
a preference for evaporating the lighter 16O containing water and leaving more of the 18O water
behind in the liquid state (called isotope fractionation). Thus seawater tends to contain more 18O than
rain and snow.
Dissolved ions in surface and groundwater water also contain useful isotopes for hydrological
investigations. Dissolved species like sulfate and nitrate contain differing ratios of 34-S to 32-S or
15-N to 14-N, and are often diagnostic of pollutant sources. Natural radioisotopes like tritium (3-H)
and radiocarbon (14-C) are also used as natural clocks to determine the residence times of water in
aquifers, rivers, and the oceans.

Applications[edit]
The most commonly used isotope application in hydrology uses hydrogen and oxygen isotopes to
evaluate sources or age of water, ice or snow. Isotopes in ice cores help to reveal conditions of past
climate. Higher average global temperature would provide more energy and thus an increase the
atmospheric 18O content of rain or snow, so that lower than modern amounts of 18O in groundwater or
ice layer imply the water or ice represents a period of cooler climatic eras or even ice ages.[3]
Another application involves the separation of groundwater flow and baseflow from streamflow in the
field of catchment hydrology (i.e. a method of hydrograph separation). Since precipitation in each
rain or snowfall event has a specific isotopic signature, and subsurface water can be identified by
well sampling, the composite signature in the stream is an indicator the proportion of the streamflow
comes from overland flow and what portion comes from subsurface flow.[4][5]
Stable isotopes in the water molecule are also useful in tracing the sources (or proportion of
sources) of water that plants use.[6][7][8]

Current use[edit]
The isotope hydrology program at the International Atomic Energy Agency works to aid developing
states to create a detailed portrait of Earth's water resources.[9]
In Ethiopia, Libya, Chad, Egypt and Sudan, the International Atomic Energy Agency used
radioisotope techniques to help local water policy identify and conserve fossil water.
The International Atomic Energy Agency maintains a publicly accessible global network and isotopic
database for Earth's rainfall and rivers.[10]