• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.517-523
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• 2017

A linear relationship between two stable water isotopes, oxygen and hydrogen, has been used to understand the water cycle as a basic tool. A slope and intercept from the linear relationship indicates what kind of physical processes occur during movement of water. Traditionally, ordinary least squares (OLS) method has been utilized for the linear relationship, but total least squares (TLS) method provides more accurate slope and intercept theoretically because isotopic compositions of both oxygen and hydrogen have uncertainties. In this work, OLS and TLS were compared with isotopic compositions of snow and snowmelt collected from the King Sejong Station, Antarctica and isotopic compositions of water vapor observed by Lee et al. (2013) in the western part of Korea. The slopes from the linear relationship of isotopic compositions of snow and snowmelt at the King Sejong Station were estimated to be 7.00 (OLS) and 7.16(TLS) and the slopes of stable water vapor isotopes were 7.75(OLS) and 7.87(TLS). There was a melting process in the snow near the King Sejong Station and the water vapor was directly transported from the ocean to the study area based on the slope calculations. There is no significant difference in two slopes to interpret the physical processes. However, it is necessary to evaluate the slope differences from the two methods for studies for example, groundwater recharge processes, using the absolute slope values.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2021

Isotopic compositions of snow or ice have been used to reconstruct paleoclimate and to calculate contribution to streamwater using isotopic hydrograph separation as an end member. During freezing and melting of snow or ice, isotopic fractionation occurs between snow or ice and liquid water. Isotopic evolution during melting process has been studied by field, melting experiments and modeling works, but that during freezing has not been well studied. In this review, isotopic fractionation during equilibrium freezing is discussed using the linear relationship between two stable water isotopes (oxygen and hydrogen) and the Rayleigh fractionation. Snow, evaporated from nearby ocean and condensated, follows the Global Meteoric Water Line (slope of 8), but the melting and freezing of snow affect the linear relationship (slope of 19.5/3.1~6.3). The isotopic evolution of liquid water by freezing observed in the open system during Rayleigh fractionation is also seen in the closed system. The isotopic evolution of snow or ice in the open system where the snow or ice is continuously removed becomes more enriched than the residual liquid water by the fractionation factor. The isotopic evolution of snow or ice in the closed system eventually equals the original isotopic compositions of liquid water. It is expected the understanding of isotopic evolution of snow or ice by freezing to increase the accuracy of the paleoclimate studies and hydrograph separation.

• Proceedings of the KSEEG Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.237-237
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• 2003

Preliminary studies on the seasonal variations in abundance of stable isotopes were carried out on the snow and rainwater samples from urban area. Stable isotopes and other geochemical data as a tool for characterizing the seasonality and source of pollutants were examined in study areas, especially to trace the sources of sulfate in precipitation and to distinguish sulfates of natural and anthropogenic origin. (omitted)

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.331-338
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• 2016

Many studies using tracers have been conducted to understand a physical process in a system. Rain-on-snow could accelerate snowmelt processes, which influences the hydrological process in both temperate and polar regions. Hydrological and ecological conditions will be affected by the amount and timing of discharge reaching the bottom of a snowpack. The discharge consists of the rain-on-snow, pore water penetrating into the snowpack and natural meltwater. In this study, after a rain-on-snow experiment, we conducted an isotopic hydrograph separation to distinguish rainwater and pore water from meltwater. Using the isotopic data of snow and meltwater from Lee et al. (2010), two components were separated based on the assumption that rainwater and pore water are new water and natural meltwater is old water. After the second rain-on-snow experiment, the maximum contributions of rainwater and pore water reached up to 69% of the discharge and then decreased. During the study period, the measured total discharge was 4153 L and 40% (based on hydrogen isotope) of rainwater and pore water was calculated in the discharge, which is not consistent with what Lee et al. (2016) calculated using chemical separation (63%). This inconsistency can be explained by how an end-member was defined in both approaches. The contributions of artificial rainonsnow and pore water to melwater discharge range between the two methods. This study will suggest a mixing calculation from isotopic compositions of the Southern Ocean.