Oxygen and hydrogen isotopic characterization of rainfall and throughfall in four South Korean cool temperate forests

Figures & data

Table 1. Average stable isotopic composition and d-excess values of water by type in the cool temperate region.

	δ^18O (‰)			δD (‰)			d-excess (‰)
Sample type	Mean (±SE)	Min	Max	Mean (±SE)	Min	Max	Mean (±SE)	Min	Max	n
Rainfall	−9.20 (±2.59)	−14.36	−4.16	−62.4 (±18.4)	−84.7	−18.8	9.6 (±7.3)	4. 7	31.5	26
Throughfall
Red pine	−8.85 (±2.22)	−13.69	−4.89	−60.8 (±17.8)	−83.5	−22.3	10.0 (±6.6)	5.5	26.1	13
Chestnut	−8.84 (±2.41)	−14.26	−4.89	−61.6 (±18.2)	−87.6	−23.0	9.1 (±6.7)	3.8	26.5	14
Black locust	−8.68 (±2.50)	−14.19	−4.82	−60.8 (±18.5)	−89.9	−22.9	8. 6 (±7.3)	3.7	26. 6	15
Mixed Stands	−8.61 (±2.21)	−13.27	−4.81	−60.9 (±16.9)	−85.3	−22.2	8.0 (±7.2)	1.4	26.2	15

Mean rainfall and throughfall values are weighted by their volumes; SE: standard error; n: number of samples; values in the parenthesis are standard deviation.

Table 2. Seasonal oxygen-18, deuterium, d-excess values, and seasonal local meteoric water line (LMWL) showing δ¹⁸O–δD relationship of various precipitation types.

				LMWL
Types	δ^18O (‰)	δD (‰)	d-excess (‰)	Intercept (±SE)	Slope (±SE)	r^2
Rainfall
Summer	−8.92 (±2.13)	−62.8 (±19.1)	8.9 (±3.1)	15.2 (±3.30)	8.77 (±0.39)	0.98
Winter	−9.76 (±3.06)	−58.6 (±20.0)	19.5 (±6.5)	3.70 (±4.37)	6.38 (±0.43)	0.95
Red Pine
Summer	−8.40 (±2.14)	−60.0 (±20.4)	10.1 (±3.8)	16.40 (±5.74)	8.91 (±0.67)	0.96
Winter	−9.14 (±2.84)	−53.8 (±20.7)	19.3 (±4.4)	11.80 (±6.19)	7.18 (±0.65)	0.97
Chestnut
Summer	−8.31 (±2.09)	−60.2 (±19.4)	9.2 (±3.7)	13.13 (±6.70)	8.61 (±0.79)	0.95
Winter	−9.68 (±2.98)	−59.6 (±21.7)	17.9 (±5.4)	9.07 (±7.90)	7.09 (± 0.78)	0.94
Black locust
Summer	−8.17 (±2.11)	−59.6 (±19.7)	8.8 (±3.7)	12.29 (±6.6)	8.63 (±0.80)	0.94
Winter	−10.02 (±3.17)	−61.8 (±23.5)	18.3 (±5.9)	10.57 (±8.90)	7.23 (±0.85)	0.93
Mixed stands
Summer	−8.2 (±2.12)	−59.8 (±19.8)	8.7 (±3.9)	11.57 (±7.30)	8.58 (±0.87)	0.93
Winter	−9.6 (±2.65)	−59.6 (±19.8)	17.2 (±6.3)	8.81 (±11.0)	7.12 (±1.11)	0.91

SE: standard error.

Figure 1. Map of Korean peninsula (a) showing sampling locations (b) and (c). Inset shows the plan of sample collection at each site. Each point shows the placement of the three throughfall apparatuses used for sample collection at each site.

Figure 2. Oxygen (δ¹⁸O) and deuterium (δD) isotopic compositions and d-excess values (‰) (primary y-axis) of rainfall (●) (a), and red pine (□), black locust (○), chestnut (×) and mixed stand (∆) throughfall events (b) collected in cool temperate forests, South Korea. Secondary y-axis shows the amount of rainfall and throughfall (mm). Horizontal dashed lines show weighted-average isotopic values. Shaded area shows snowfall samples.

Figure 3. Differences in δ¹⁸O isotopic composition between throughfall (δ¹⁸O_Th) and rainfall (δ¹⁸O_Rf) (primary y-axis; black closed columns) and throughfall amount recorded during events (secondary y-axis, downward grey columns) in (a) red pine, (b) mixed stand, (c) chestnut and (d) black locust stands. The values above the x-axis (upward black columns) indicate throughfall enriched compared to rainfall and those below the x-axis (downward black columns) indicate throughfall less enriched compared to rainfall. Shaded area shows snowfall samples.

Figure 4. Covariation plots of δD–δ¹⁸O of all (a) and seasonal (b) and (c) precipitation samples collected in the study from cool temperate forests, South Korea. Global meteoric water line (GMWL) (grey dashed line) with δD = (8 × δ¹⁸O) + 10 (Craig 1961) is plotted for reference. Local meteoric water line (LMWL) is based on the sample collected in the study.

Craig, H., 1961. Isotopic variations in meteoric waters. Science, 133, 1702–1703. doi:10.1126/science.133.3465.1702

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