δ18O and δ2H Characteristics of Moisture Sources and Their Role in Surface Water Recharge in the North-East of Iran

Abstract

The north-east of Iran is a semi-arid region and faces a water shortage crisis. Therefore, monitoring water resources using accurate methods such as stable isotopes technique is vitally important. In this study, precipitation events were sampled in 10 stations in the Mashhad basin and the Bojnourd region in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2015. These samples were also transferred to Ottawa University for both oxygen and hydrogen isotopes analyses. In addition, the moisture sources were determined using the backward trajectories of the HYSPLIT model. The backward trajectories showed that both high- and low-latitude water bodies provide moisture for the north-east of Iran. However, the role of high-latitude water bodies including the Caspian, the Black, and the Mediterranean Seas is stronger. On the other hand, the stable isotopes showed large variations and the developed meteoric water lines deviated in both slope and intercept from the global meteoric water line. This showed that the precipitation events of the north-east of Iran were provided by various air masses and moisture sources. Finally, plotting the isotope values of the surface water resources on high- and low-latitude meteoric water lines demonstrated that these water resources were dominantly recharged by precipitation events originating from high-latitude water bodies.