Seasonal variations of deuterium and oxygen‐18 isotopes and their response to moisture source for precipitation events in the subtropical monsoon region

Deuterium and oxygen‐18 are common environmental tracers in water used to investigate hydrological processes such as evaporation and groundwater recharge, and to trace moisture source. In this study, we collected event precipitation from 01 January 2010 to 28 February 2011 at a site in Changsha, Yangtze River Basin to estimate the influence of moisture source and atmospheric conditions on stable isotope compositions. The local meteoric water line, established as δD = (8.45 ± 0.13) δ¹⁸O + (17.7 ± 0.9) (r² = 0.97, n = 189), had a higher slope and intercept than global meteoric water line. Temperature–δ¹⁸O exhibited complex correlations, with positive correlations during Nov.–Apr. superior to during Jun.–Sep., which was attributed to distinctive moisture sources, but vague the overall period; amount effect examined throughout the year. Linear regressions between δ¹⁸O and δD value in different precipitation event size classes revealed progressively decreasing slope and intercept values with decreasing precipitation amount and increasing vapour pressure deficit, indicating that small rainfall events (0–5 mm) were subject to secondary evaporation effects during rainwater descent. In contrast, snowfall and heavy precipitation events exhibited high slope and intercepts for the regression equation between δ¹⁸O and δD. High concentrations of heavy isotopes were associated with precipitation events sourced from remote westerly air masses, degenerated tropical marine air masses from the Bay of Bengal (BoB), and inland moisture in the pre‐monsoon period, as determined from backward trajectories assessed in the HYSPLIT model. Meanwhile, low concentrations of heavy isotopes were found to correspond with remote maritime moisture from BoB, the South China Sea, and the west Pacific at three different air pressures in summer monsoon and post‐monsoon using HYSPLIT and records of typhoon paths. These findings suggest that stable isotope compositions in precipitation events are closely associated with the meteorological conditions and respond sensitively to moisture source in subtropical monsoon climates. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Carbon and oxygen isotope composition of shell carbonate of desert land snails

Variation in¹³C/¹²C and¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios in the shell carbonate of several species of land snails was studied along a climatic gradient in semi-arid to arid areas in the southern Levant.¹³C was found to be enriched in snails from communities having plants with a C₄ photosynthetic pathway. Depleted δ¹³C values were found in areas with high mean annual rainfall, apparently due to higher input of metabolic CO₂ as a result of greater snail activity. Shell carbonate δ¹⁸O values show a weak relation to the δ¹⁸O values of rainwater. The shell δ¹⁸O values are enriched by 2–8‰ relative to isotopic equilibrium with environmental waters. Enrichment is suggested to result from metabolic effects on body water (with lower activity producing greater enrichment) but evaporation could also be a factor. Consistent differences in both¹³C and¹⁸O were found among species and may relate to the time when shell deposition occurs. As with most paleoenvironmental indicators, the application of shell isotopes is complicated by the multiplicity of controls of isotopic composition.     

Relations between oxygen stable isotopic ratios in precipitation and relevant meteorological factors in southwest China

The correlations of isotopic ratios in precipitation with temperature, air pressure and humidity at dif- ferent altitudes, in southwest China, are analyzed. There appear marked negative correlations for the δ 18O in precipitation with precipitation amount, vapor pressure and atmospheric precipitable water (PW) at Mengzi, Simao and Tengchong stations on synoptic timescale; the marked negative correlations between the δ 18O in precipitation and the diurnal mean temperature at 400 hPa, 500 hPa, 700 hPa and 850 hPa are different from the temperature effect in middle-high-latitude inland. Moreover, the notable positive correlation between the δ 18O in precipitation and the dew-point deficit △Td at different altitudes is found at the three stations. On annual timescale, the annual precipitation amount weighted mean δ 18O display the negative correlations not only with annual precipitation but also with annual mean temperature at 500 hPa. It can be deduced that, in the years with abnormally strong summer monsoon, more warm and wet air from low-latitude oceans is transported northward along the vapor channel located in southwest China and generates abnormally strong rainfall on the way. Meanwhile, the ab- normally strong condensation process will release more condensed latent heat into atmosphere, and lead to the rise of atmospheric temperature during rainfall, but decline of the δ 18O in precipitation. On the contrary, in the years with abnormally weak summer monsoon, the abnormally weak condensation process will release less condensed latent heat into atmosphere, and lead to the decline of atmos- pheric temperature during rainfall, but increase of the δ 18O in precipitation.     

Stable isotopic studies of dinosaur eggshells from the Nanxiong Basin, South China

Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes have been observed in dinosaur eggshell samples,identified as Macroolithus yaotunensis,collected in two sections of the Nanxiong Basin,Guangdong Province,South China.Multiple positiveδ18O perturbations that occurred during the K/T transition of about 150 ka suggest that there may have been at least three periods of the extreme dry climate with a mean annual air temperature over 27℃.δ13C ranges from -8.37‰ to -11.60‰ of the dinosaur eggshells,added to the metabolic enrichment of 16‰,may indicate that the dinosaurs represented by this type of eggshells probably consumed the plant species of C3 type with the δ13C values of -24.3‰- -27.6‰.Moreover,the trend toward more negative δ13C values of the eggshells during the K/T transition could be an indirect consequence of a lasting increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration.     

Relationships between δ18O in summer precipitation and temperature and moisture trajectories at Muztagata, western China

Based on summer observations of stable isotope of precipitation at Muztagata, western China, during 2002-2003, this paper presents the relationship between δ ¹⁸O in precipitation and air temperature, and discusses the effect of moisture transport on δ ¹⁸O in precipitation. Results show that air temperature correlates positively with δ ¹⁸O in precipitation, and the temperature effect controls the δ ¹⁸O of precipitation in this area. The Muztagata region exhibits high δ ¹⁸O values in summer precipitation, similar to those shown at stations in adjacent regions. According to the results of our model set up to trace the moisture trajectories, the westerlies and local moisture circulation contribute to variations of oxygen isotopes in precipitation. In addition, the impacts of the moisture transport distance, the moisture transport level, and the incursion of the polar air mass also influence the variations of δ ¹⁸O in precipitation. The moisture origins and transport mechanisms also contribute to the variation of δ ¹⁸O in precipitation at Muztagata.     

Climatic significance of δ <Superscript>18</Superscript>O records from an 80.36 m ice core in the East Rongbuk Glacier,Mount Qomolangma (Everest)

The δ ¹⁸O variations in an 80.36 m ice core retrieved in the accumulation zone of the East Rongbuk Glacier, Mount Qomolangma (Everest), is not consistent with changes of air temperature from both southern and northern slopes of Himalayas, as well as these of the temperature anomalies over the Northern Hemisphere. The negative relationship between the δ ¹⁸O and the net accumulation records of the ice core suggests the “amount effect” of summer precipitation on the δ ¹⁸O values in the region. Therefore, the δ ¹⁸O records of the East Rongbuk ice core should be a proxy of Indian Summer Monsoon intensity, which shows lower δ ¹⁸O values during strong monsoon phases and higher values during weak phases.     

Typhoon rainfall impact on drip water δ18O in Xianyun cave,Southeast China

Precisely dated high-resolution speleothems may record past typhoon events, however, the state of the art cave monitoring is a prerequisite to identify suitable stalagmites for the reconstruction of such events. With this motivation, we examined the isotopic composition (δ¹⁸O and d-excess values) of rainfall, outside river, cave drip water, and an underground river in the Xianyun cave system, located in southeastern China. Monthly to bi-monthly monitoring of environmental and isotopic conditions was conducted for 1 year, from December 2018 to December 2019, including a typhoon event (August 24, 2019 to August 26, 2019), called Bailu. The δ¹⁸O of rainfall samples over the cave and outside river water ranged from −9.7‰ to −1.9‰ and −8.2‰ to −6.3‰, respectively, while the δ¹⁸O of Typhoon Bailu rainfall and instantaneous outside river water ranged from −19.6‰ to −6.3‰ and −10.4‰ to −7.7‰, respectively. Typhoon Bailu-induced rainfall showed distinctly negative δ¹⁸O values as compared to those of the monthly and bi-monthly rainfall, exhibiting a three-stage inverted U-shaped variation characteristic. Four drip water monitoring sites inside the cave revealed low variations during the studied period with average values of −7.8‰, −8.0‰, −8.0‰, and −8.1‰. However, during the typhoon, the drip water δ¹⁸O values exhibited similar characteristic as outside rainfall but with just 0.2‰ negative deviation owing to precipitation amount and drip water source reservoir. The integration of rainfall amount with drip water source reservoir determines the degree to which a typhoon isotopic signature gets diluted during epikarst infiltration. This study provides the first instrumental evidence of typhoon signal in karst system in southeastern China. Our results imply that the δ¹⁸O of drip water in Xianyun cave can instantaneously respond to typhoon rainfall. However, the 0.2‰ shift in drip water δ¹⁸O is difficult to be recorded by speleothems. We suggest multi-year monitoring to ascertain fully if the stalagmites could be used as paleotyphoon proxy.     

Ocean air masses from the East Asian monsoon dominate the land-surface atmospheric water cycles in the coastal areas of Liaodong Bay,Northeast China

Long-term atmospheric water vapour hydrogen (δ²H), oxygen (δ¹⁸O) and deuterium excess (d-excess) can provide unique insights into the land-atmosphere coupling processes. The in-situ measurements of atmospheric water vapour δ²H, δ¹⁸O and d-excess were conducted above a reed wetland of Liaodong Bay (2019–2020). We found significant inter-annual variations in atmospheric water vapour isotopes between the two growing (May–September) seasons. The δ²H, δ¹⁸O and d-excess of atmospheric water vapour exhibited different seasonal and diurnal cycles concerning the vertical measurement heights, especially in 2019. The isotopic differences of atmospheric water vapour among vertical measurement heights were more evident in the daytime. Rainfall events directly impacted the diurnal patterns of water vapour isotopes, and the influences depended on rainfall intensities. However, only weak correlations existed between water vapour isotopes and local meteorological factors (R² = 0.01–0.16, p < 0.001), such as water vapour concentration (w), Relative Humidity (RH) and surface air temperature (T_a). Based on the back-air trajectory analyses, the spatial–temporal dynamics of atmospheric water vapour isotopes are highly synchronized with monsoon activities. Different water vapour sources influence the water vapour isotope in this region and the higher d-excess value is related to the intense convection brought by the monsoon. High-resolution measurements of atmospheric water vapour isotopes will improve our understanding of the hydrological cycles in coastal areas.     

Seasonal variations of stable isotope in precipitation and moisture transport at Yushu,eastern Tibetan Plateau

Precipitation δ 18O at Yushu, eastern Tibetan Plateau, shows strong fluctuation and lack of clear seasonality. The seasonal pattern of precipitation stable isotope at Yushu is apparently different from either that of the southwest monsoon region to the south or that of the inland region to the north. This different seasonal pattern probably reflects the shift of different moisture sources. In this paper, we present the spatial comparison of the seasonal patterns of precipitation δ 18O, and calculate the moisture transport flux by using the NCAR/NCEP reanalysis data. This allows us to discuss the relation between moisture transport flux and precipitation δ 18O. This study shows that both the southwest monsoon from south and inland air mass transport from north affected the seasonal precipitation δ 18O at Yushu, eastern Tibetan Plateau. Southwest monsoon brings the main part of the moisture, but southwest transport flux is weaker than in the southern part of the Tibetan Plateau. However, contribution of the inland moisture from north or local evaporation moisture is enhanced. The combined effect is the strong fluctuation of summer precipitation δ 18O at Yushu and comparatively poor seasonality.     

Isotopic temporal and spatial variations of tropical rivers in Thailand reflect monsoon precipitation signals

Stable isotopic compositions (δ¹⁸O and d-excess) from 25 rivers in Thailand were analysed monthly during 2013–2015. Results indicated that monsoon precipitation fundamentally influences the river isotopes. The overland flow supplied from monsoon precipitation and human-altered flow regimes produces considerable isotopic variability. Spatial and temporal variations were observed among four principal geographical regions. The seasonality of monsoon precipitation in mountainous Thailand produced large variations in isotopic compositions because most rainfall occurred during the southwest monsoon, and dry conditions prevailed during the northeast monsoon. The northern and northeastern regions are mountainous, highland areas. Low δ¹⁸O values were found in these regions, likely because of altitude effects on precipitation. Conversely, monsoonal precipitation continually supplies rivers in southern Thailand all year round, producing higher and more consistent δ¹⁸O values than in the other regions. The Chao Phraya plain in the central region experienced enrichment of δ¹⁸O river runoff related to evaporation in irrigation systems. Larger catchment areas and longer residence times resulted in more pronounced evaporation effects, producing lower values of d-excess and local river water line slopes compared with precipitation. The isotopic differences between river waters and precipitation were utilized to determine river recharge elevations and water transit time. The methods presented here can be used to explore hydrological interactions in other tropical river basins.     

Carbon isotopic characteristics and their genetic relationships for individual lipids in plants and sediments from a marsh sedimentary environment

The carbon isotopic compositions of individual lip-ids can provide the genetic information about sedi-mentary lipids so that it has extensively applied pros-pects in geochemically studied field[1―8]. However, this applied research relies heavily on the accumula-tion of studied data in the genetic relationships between carbon isotopic compositions of individual lipids and their biological precursors in different sedi-mentary environments. Recently, the useful δ 13C data of individual lipids f…     

Stable isotopes in the source waters of the Yamuna and its tributaries: seasonal and altitudinal variations and relation to major cations

Water samples from the Yamuna and its tributaries, one of the major river systems draining the Himalaya, have been analysed for their stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopes during three seasons (summer, monsoon and post‐monsoon). The data show clear seasonal and altitudinal variations; waters from higher altitudes and those collected during monsoon season are characterized by relatively depleted isotopic composition. Regression analysis of δD–δ¹⁸O data of samples collected during summer and monsoon seasons shows that the slope of the best‐fit lines are nearly identical to those of precipitation at New Delhi for the same period. The similarity in their slopes suggests that the isotopic composition of precipitation contributing water to these rivers are reasonably well preserved in both monsoon and non‐monsoon seasons, however, during the non‐monsoon period both rainfall and river waters carry signatures of evaporation. The ‘deuterium excess’ in river waters during the three seasons though overlap with each other, the values during October are higher. This can be understood in terms of recycled moisture contributions to precipitation. The ‘altitude effect’ for δ¹⁸O in these waters is determined to be 0·11‰ per 100 m, a factor of about two less than that reported for the Ganga source waters from similar altitudinal range. The variability in altitude effects in rivers draining the Himalaya seems to be controlled by the ‘amount effect’ associated with the monsoon. The significant spatial variability in altitude effect in these river basins, which are a few hundred kilometers apart, suggests that reconstruction of palaeoelevation in the Himalaya, based on δ¹⁸O‐altitude gradients, would depend critically on its proper assessment in the region. This study has established a relationship between total cation abundance and δ¹⁸O in waters of the Yamuna mainstream; total cations (corrected for cyclic components) double for a 1·4 km decrease in altitude as the Yamuna flows downstream. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stable isotopic analysis on ancient human bones in Jiahu site

Palaeodietary analysis is one of important topics in bioarchaeology field and has been paid great at- tention to by Chinese archaeometrists recently. Ancient human bones in Jiahu Site were analyzed by means of stable isotopes of C, N and O. 13 human bones were excluded from 28 bones for dietary re- construction due to their unusual collagen contents, C and N contents, and C/N atomic ratios espe- cially. δ 13C (-20.37±0.53‰) in collagen of remaining samples showed that C3 food were consumed mainly, which is consistent of the archaeological findings that rice was the staple in Jiahu. According to the difference of δ 15N and δ 13C values in bone collagen, the samples can be classified into four clusters. The changes of δ 15N values in bone collagen and δ 13C values in hydroxylapatite through whole cultural phases indicated the transition from hunting to gathering and fishing to rice agriculture and animal domestication ultimately. Meanwhile, the δ 18O change in hydroxylapatite showed that pa- laeoclimate was relatively constant during Jiahu culture.     

Quantitative recuperation of climatic sequences for the last 200 years in Xingcuo Lake,eastern Tibetan Plateau

The functional relation between theδ18O values in the shell of gastropod Gyraulus sibirica and the air temperature in the warm half-yearly period, and that between Sr/Ca ratio and the precipitation in the warm half-yearly period were established by calibrating the δ18O and δ13C values, Sr/Ca ratio and Mg/Ca ratio in the shell Gyraulus sibirica, as well as the total organic carbon (TOC) and its δ13C values in the Xingcuo Lake sediment in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. The sequences of air temperature and precipitation in the last 200 years in the region were quantitatively recuperated on this basis. The results showed the following: (i) There was a negative correlativity between Sr/Ca ratio and the precipitation in the warm half-yearly period, its correlation coefficient was 0.86. (ii) There was an obviously positive correlativity between indexδ18O and the running average temperature in the warm half-yearly period, its correlation coefficient was 0.89. (iii) Evolution of the air temperature and the precipitation in the last 200 years can be divided into three phases distinctly. The precipitation in the later mid-19th century was 220 mm higher than that today; the air temperature in the warm half-yearly period was 2℃ lower than that of the present. The precipitation in the minimum air temperature period of the early 20th century was below that today by 60 mm, and the air temperature in the warm half-yearly period was 3.4℃ lower than that today. (iv) An evidently warming and drying trend existed in the last five decades.     

Abiogenic hydrocarbons in commercial gases from the Songliao Basin, China

This paper discusses the kinetic fractionation, composition and distribution characteristics of carbon and hydrogen isotopes for various alkane gases formed in different environments, by different mecha- nisms and from different sources in nature. It is demonstrated that the biodegradation or thermode- gradation of complex high-molecule sedimentary organic material can form microbial gas or thermogenic gas. The δ 13C1 value ranges from -110‰ to -50‰ for microbial gases but from -50‰ to -35‰ (even heavier) f...     

The isotopic signature of monsoon conditions,cloud modes,and rainfall type

This work provides a comprehensive physically based framework for the interpretation of the north Australian rainfall stable isotope record (δ¹⁸O and δ²H). Until now, interpretations mainly relied on statistical relationships between rainfall amount and isotopic values on monthly timescales. Here, we use multiseason daily rainfall stable isotope and high resolution (10 min) ground‐based C‐band polarimetric radar data and show that the five weather types (monsoon regimes) that constitute the Australian wet season each have a characteristic isotope ratio. The data suggest that this is not only due to changes in regional rainfall amount during these regimes but, more importantly, is due to different rain and cloud types that are associated with the large scale circulation regimes. Negative (positive) isotope anomalies occurred when stratiform rainfall fractions were large (small) and the horizontal extent of raining areas were largest (smallest). Intense, yet isolated, convective conditions were associated with enriched isotope values whereas more depleted isotope values were observed when convection was widespread but less intense. This means that isotopic proxy records may record the frequency of which these typical wet season regimes occur. Positive anomalies in paleoclimatic records are most likely associated with periods where continental convection dominates and convection is sea‐breeze forced. Negative anomalies may be interpreted as periods when the monsoon trough is active, convection is of the oceanic type, less electric, and stratiform areas are wide spread. This connection between variability of rainfall isotope anomalies and the intrinsic properties of convection and its large‐scale environment has important implications for all fields of research that use rainfall stable isotopes.     

Preliminary attempt to distinguish the domesticated pigs from wild boars by the methods of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis

Despite great achievements in the origins of domestic pigs made by the methods of zooarchaeology and molecular biology, how to scientifically distinguish the domesticated pigs from wild boars during the early stage of pig domestication is still poorly understood. Compared to wild boar’s diets which come from the natural environment, the diets of domestic pigs are more easily influenced by human feeding activities. Therefore, in principle, exploration of the dietary differences among pigs and under-standing the impact on pig diets fed by humans can have great potential to differentiate between wild boars and domesticated pigs. To reveal dietary differences among pigs and distinguish the domesticated pigs from wild boars based on comparison with the diets of humans and other animals, we analyzed the carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of human bones from Xiaojingshan Site and animal bones from Yuezhuang Site, both of which belong to Houli Culture in Shandong Province and date to about 8500-7500 years ago. The mean δ¹³C value ((−17.8 ± 0.3)‰) and δ¹⁵N value ((9.0±0.6)‰) in human collagen indicate that although millet agriculture began it was not the main subsistence strategy as millets are typical of C₄ plants and that humans made a living mainly by gathering, hunting or raising some domesticated animals. The δ¹³C value (−16.1‰) and δ¹⁵N value (6.9‰) in the bovine suggest that C₃ plants were dominant in its diet with some C₄ plants complemented. The fish has lower δ¹³C value (−24.9‰) and higher δ¹⁵N value (8.8‰) than the bovine, which is the characteristic of the isotopic values from Eurasian freshwater fish. Based on the differences in carbon and nitrogen isotope values, the pigs can be divided into three groups. A group, composed of two pigs, has low δ¹³C values (−18.1‰, −20.0‰) and low δ¹⁵N values (4.7‰, 6.0‰). B group, only one pig, has the highest δ¹³C value (−10.6‰) and mediate δ¹⁵N value (6.4‰). As for the C group, also only one pig, low δ¹³C value (−19.0‰) and the highest δ¹⁵N value (9.1‰) are observed. Previous studies on the stable isotopes from modern or ancient wild boars’ bones have suggested that C₃ plants are predominated in their diets and that their δ¹⁵N values are close to those in herbivores and far from those in carnivores. Based on the comparison with the isotope values from humans, the wild boars and the domestic pigs from Xipo Site in Henan 6000-5500 years ago and Kangjia Site in Shaanxi 4500-4000 years ago, we conclude that A pig group belongs to wild boars while B and C groups can be attributed to domesticated pigs. Supported by Max-Planck Society and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KJCX3.SYW.N12), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40702003) and President Funding of Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences     

A possible Younger Dryas-type event during Asian monsoonal Termination 3

1 Introduction The Younger Dryas (YD) cold spell is one of the most prominent abrupt climate change events in the past and a key feature of the last glacial termination. A great agreement has been attained in terms of the tim- ing and geographic extent of…     

Temporal and spatial variations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">δ</Emphasis><Superscript>15</Superscript>N and <Emphasis Type="Italic">δ</Emphasis><Superscript>18</Superscript>O for atmospheric N<Subscript>2</Subscript>O above the oceanic surface from Shanghai to Antarctica

During the 22nd Chinese Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE-22), the atmospheric gas samples above the oceanic surface and near the surface were collected on the track for the scientific ship “Xuelong” and on Millor Peninsula of eastern Antarctica, respectively, using the Tedlar gas bags. Every day the sampling times were 10:00 and 22:00 (local time), respectively. In the laboratory, high-precision measurement of the isotopic compositions for N₂O in these gas samples was conducted using Thermo Finnigan MAT-253 Isotopic Mass Spectrometer with a fully automated interface for the pre-GC concentration (PreCon) of trace gases. The temporal and spatial variations of δ ¹⁵N and δ ¹⁸O in atmospheric N₂O were analyzed. The mean δ ¹⁵N and δ ¹⁸O-N₂O values above the oceanic surface were (7.21±0.50)‰ and (44.52±0.52)‰, respectively. From 30°N to Antarctica, the δ ¹⁵N (6.05‰–7.88‰) linearly increased with the rate of about 0.01‰ with the latitude while the δ ¹⁸O (43.05‰–48.78‰) showed a large fluctuation. The δ ¹⁵N negatively correlated with air temperature and N₂O concentration, and slightly positively correlated with δ ¹⁸O. The summertime variations of δ ¹⁵N and δ ¹⁸O-N₂O appeared the same trend on Millor Peninsula of eastern Antarctica. They significantly positively correlated with each other and negatively with N₂O concentration. The δ ¹⁵N and δ ¹⁸O-N₂O at different sites averaged (7.42±0.35)‰ and (44.69±0.49)‰, respectively, slightly higher than those above the oceanic surface, significantly higher than those of atmospheric N₂O in the low-latitude regions of Northern Hemisphere. The predominant factors affecting the spatial variations of δ ¹⁵N and δ ¹⁸O values were also discussed. The isotopic data given in this study can help to investigate the global and regional N₂O budgets. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40676005 and 40406001)     

Quantitative evaluation of the rainfall influence on streamflow in an inland mountainous river basin within Central Asia

Stable isotopes of water have been widely used in understanding the hydrological functions of alpine inland catchments. This study identifies dominant runoff generation mechanisms based on isotopic data (δ¹⁸O and δ²H) of 487 rainwater and river-water samples from three tributaries in the Tarim River Basin in China for the period May–September 2013. The isotope hydrograph separation results provide a comprehensive overview of the rainfall influence on hydrological processes. Stream water and groundwater have varied responses to different intensities of rainfall events. Only a small proportion of rainfall is directly transported to the stream during such events. An inconsistent temporal trend of event water contribution is observed in the three catchments. The average fractional contributions of rainfall for the Tizinafu, Kumalak and Huangshuigou rivers are 10.3% (±1.1%), 9.7% (±2.9%) and 8.7% (±2.4%), respectively.