Spatio-temporal Variations of d18O Isotope Signatures of Hydrological Components within a Glacierised Mountainous Basin

Understanding the spatio-temporal variations of isotopic tracers in complex mountainous environments can assist with seasonal and inter-annual hydrological process studies. In addition, if components of a hydrological balance can be isotopically characterised through time at a basin end-point, then they can potentially be used to evaluate the hydrological balance predicted in a model run. Over one hundred samples were collected of bulk snowpack, glacial ice, rainfall and various forms of groundwater/baseflow from the Bow Valley in the Canadian Rockies in an attempt to characterise the spatio-temporal variations of stable oxygen isotope compositions for each of these end members. A discussion of the observed changes in each of the flow component signatures with regard to the hydrological processes that may be controlling these dynamic changes in signature is provided. The paper ends with a generalisation (or conceptual model) of the oxygen isotope signatures for each of the major hydrological balance components at a monthly time step for the years 1996 – 1999