Influence of the balance of the intertropical front on seasonal variations of the isotopic composition in rainfall at Kisiba Masoko (Rungwe Volcanic Province, SW, Tanzania)

• Published in: Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies
• Main Authors: Nivet, Fantine, Bergonzini, Laurent, Mathé, Pierre-Étienne, Noret, Aurélie, Monvoisin, Gaël, Majule, Amos, Williamson, David
• Other Authors: Géosciences Paris Sud (GEOPS), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement (CEREGE), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Institute of Resource Assessment, University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Biogéochimie-Traceurs-Paléoclimat (BTP), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636))
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: climatology; Back-tracking; East African Rift; oxygen-18; precipitation; seasonal variations; isotope hydrology; deuterium excess; hydrogen-2; intertropical front; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; Austral; Austral Ocean; Indian
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01791167; https://doi.org/10.1080/10256016.2018.1443923

International audience Tropical rainfall isotopic composition results from complex processes. The climatological and environmental variability in East Africa increases this complexity. Long rainfall isotope datasets are needed to fill the lack of observations in this region. At Kisiba Masoko, Tanzania, rainfall and rain isotopic composition have been monitored during 6 years. Mean year profiles allow to analyse the seasonal variations. The mean annual rainfall is 2099mm with a rain-weighted mean composition of -3.2 parts per thousand for delta O-18 and -11.7 parts per thousand for delta H-2. The results are consistent with available data although they present their own specificity. Thus, if the local meteoric water line is delta H-2=8.6 delta O-18+14.8, two seasonal lines are observed. The seasonality of the isotopic composition in rain and deuterium excess has been compared with precipitating air masses backtracking trajectories to characterize a simple scheme of vapour histories. The three major oceanic sources have two moisture signatures with their own trajectory histories: one originated from the tropical Indian Ocean at the beginning of the rainy season and one from the Austral Ocean at its end. The presented isotopic seasonality depends on the balance of the intertropical front and provides a useful dataset to improve the knowledge about local processes.