A MODEL FOR DEUTERIUM AND OXYGEN-18 ISOTOPE CHANGES DURING EVERGREEN INTERCEPTION OF SNOWFALL

A one-dimensional, physically based numerical model was constructed to describe the isotopic enrichment observed in throughfall of snow intercepted on evergreens. The process of enrichment is similar to that which results in formation of depth hear in snowpack. On-site data were obtained at a high-altitude (3500 m) watershed in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The model includes the ambient atmospheric variables of temperature, relative humidity, and water vapor isotopic composition and the intercepted snow variables of temperature profile, permeability for viscous flux, and isotopic composition. Model simulations yield results similar to those observed on site and suggest that the process is dominated by diffusive flux despite the very high permeability of freshly fallen snow. Median enrichments were observed to be 2.1 parts per thousand in oxygen 18 and 13 parts per thousand in deuterium.