Variations of 17O/16O and 18O/16O in meteoric waters

The variations of δ17O and δ18O in recent meteoric waters and in ice cores have proven to be an important tool for investigating the present and past hydrologic cycle. In order to close significant information gaps in the present distribution of δ17O and δ18O of meteoric water, we have run precise measurements, with respect to VSMOW, on samples distributed globally from low to high latitudes. Based on the new and existing data, we present the Global Meteoric Water Line (GMWL) for δ17O and δ18O as: ln(δ17O+1)=0.528ln(δ18O+1)+0.000033(R2=0.99999) In addition to meteoric water, we carried out the first measurements of seawater from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans with respect to VSMOW. The obtained results show that the slope of the trend line ln(δ17O + 1) vs. ln(δ18O + 1) of seawater samples is 0.528, the same as for meteoric water, but the regression intercept is −5 per meg. Thus, the positive intercept in the GMWL indicates an excess of 17O in meteoric waters with respect to the ocean. An excess (or depletion) of 17O in water is defined as:17O-excess=ln(δ17O+1)-0.528(δ18O+1) Most meteoric water samples have positive 17O-excess of varying magnitudes with an average of 37 per meg with respect to VSMOW. We explain how these positive values originate from evaporation of sea water into marine air, which is undersaturated in water vapor, and how subsequent increase of 17O-excess occurs when atmospheric vapor condenses to form liquid and solid precipitation. We also clarify the effect of excessive evaporation on 17O-excess. Finally, based on the new results on 17O-excess of seawater we recalculated the relationship of δ17O vs. δ18O in vapor diffusion in air as 18αdiff = 1.0096.