A coupled isotope tracer method to characterize input water to lakes

SummaryWe develop a new coupled isotope tracer method for characterizing the isotopic composition of input water to lakes, and apply it in the context of ongoing hydrological process studies in the Peace-Athabasca Delta, a large, remote, riparian ecosystem in the boreal region of western Canada. The region has a highly seasonal climate, with floodplain lakes typically receiving input only during the 4–6 month open-water season from varying proportions of spring snowmelt, summer rains and river flooding. These possible input sources have distinct ranges of isotopic compositions that are strongly constrained to a well-defined local meteoric water line, thus affording the opportunity to derive lake-specific estimates of the integrated isotopic composition of input waters after accounting for the effects of secondary evaporative isotopic enrichment. As shown by comparison of the results of isotopic surveys of delta lakes prior to freeze-up in 2000 and 2005, this isotopic characterization of input waters can be combined with other data and field observations to provide new insight into spatial and temporal variability in delta lake recharge processes. This includes evidence that summer rainfall in 2000 played an important role in replenishing shallow basins delta-wide, especially in the central low-lying region, compensating for below-average snow accumulation during the previous winter. In contrast, 2005 was marked by greater relative contributions from both snowmelt and river flooding because of high winter snow accumulation and a spring ice-jam that caused river floodwaters to enter some basins in the southern part of the delta. The method is readily transferable to investigations in other remote regions that are sparsely monitored by conventional hydrometric networks.