AUTHOR=Giménez Reyes , Bartolomé Miguel , Gázquez Fernando , Iglesias Miguel , Moreno Ana TITLE=Underlying Climate Controls in Triple Oxygen (16 O, 17 O, 18 O) and Hydrogen (1 H, 2 H) Isotopes Composition of Rainfall (Central Pyrenees) JOURNAL=Frontiers in Earth Science VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2021 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2021.633698 DOI=10.3389/feart.2021.633698 ISSN=2296-6463 ABSTRACT=

Studies of rainfall isotopic composition in the Iberian Peninsula are scarce, and to date, none of them have provided analyses of the triple oxygen isotopes, preventing from the complete understanding of current atmospheric processes in this region. We investigate the rainwater δ17O, δ18O, and δD and derived parameters 17O-excess and d-excess in a mountain site in the Central South Pyrenees (Villanúa, Huesca, Spain) to identify the main factors (regional and local) controlling the isotopic composition of precipitation at event scale. The samples were collected on a rainfall-event basis during 2 years (from July 2017 to June 2019), and meteorological variables [temperature, relative humidity (RH), and rainfall amount] were monitored at the sampling site. The δ17O, δ18O, and δD values were higher during summer and lower during the rest of the year. In contrast, the 17O-excess and d-excess were lower during summer and higher during the remaining months. We found that the isotopic parameters are weakly correlated with rainfall amount during each event, but they strongly depend on changes in air temperature and moderately on RH. We consider other factors affecting the isotopic composition of rainfall events that resulted to have an important role, such as the influence of the moisture source and trajectory throughout the variations in the synoptic pattern during rainfall events. This dataset can be useful for further comprehensive atmospheric and hydrological studies, with application to paleoclimatic investigations.