title: Spatial distribution and temporal variability of stable water isotopes in a large and shallow lake.
abstract: Stable isotopic compositions of lake water provide additional information on hydrological, meteorological and paleoclimate processes. In this study, lake water isotopic compositions were measured for more than three years in Lake Taihu, a large and shallow lake in southern China, to investigate the isotopic spatial and seasonal variations. The results indicated that (1) the whole-lake mean δ(2)H and δ(18)O values of the lake water varied seasonally from -48.4 ± 5.8 to -25.1 ± 3.2 ‰ and from -6.5 ± 0.9 to -3.5 ± 0.8 ‰, respectively, (2) the spatial pattern of the lake water isotopic compositions was controlled by the direction of water flow and not by local evaporation rate, and (3) using a one-site isotopic measurement to represent the whole-lake mean may result in unreasonable estimates of the isotopic composition of lake evaporation and the lake water residence time in poorly mixed lakes. The original data, documented here as an online supplement, provides a good reference for testing sensitivity of lake water budget to various isotopic sampling strategies. We propose that detailed spatial measurement of lake water isotopic compositions provides a good proxy for water movement and pollutant and alga transports, especially over big lakes.
authors.affiliation: a Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment & Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology , Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology , Nanjing , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: b Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research , Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xuefa
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: a Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment & Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology , Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology , Nanjing , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: a Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment & Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology , Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology , Nanjing , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qitao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: a Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment & Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology , Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology , Nanjing , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jingzheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: a Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment & Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology , Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology , Nanjing , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: a Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment & Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology , Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology , Nanjing , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jiaping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: a Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment & Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology , Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology , Nanjing , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: a Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment & Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology , Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology , Nanjing , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: a Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment & Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology , Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology , Nanjing , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shoudong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: a Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment & Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology , Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology , Nanjing , People's Republic of China.|c School of Forestry and Environmental Studies , Yale University , New Haven , CT , USA.
authors.forename: Xuhui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D003903:Deuterium / Q000032:analysis*; D060106:Lakes / Q000032:analysis*; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D012621:Seasons; D062206:Spatial Analysis; D014872:Water Movements
chemical_list: D010103:Oxygen Isotopes; D003903:Deuterium
keywords: Evaporation; Taihu lake; hydrogen-2; isotope hydrology; lake water; oxygen-18; residence time; seasonal variability; spatial distribution