Spatial and temporal dynamics of water isotopes in the riverine-marine
mixing zone along the German Baltic Sea coast
Abstract
River estuaries are characterized by mixing processes between
isotopically depleted freshwater inflows and isotopically more enriched
marine water masses. Therefore, they often show linear correlation
between salinity and water isotopes (δ18O and δ2H values). Here we
evaluated spatial and seasonal isotope dynamics along three estuarine
lagoon transects at the northern German Baltic Sea coast. The data show
strong seasonality of isotope values even at locations located furthest
from the river mouths. They further reveal a positive and linear
salinity-isotope correlation in spring, but hyperbolic and partially
even reverse correlation in summers. We conclude that additional
physical processes, such as evaporation from the shallow lagoons,
overprint the two-phase mixing correlation during summers. Understanding
of those water isotope dynamics are crucial in context of ecological
studies, for example when interpreting oxygen and hydrogen isotope data
in aquatic organisms that depend on ambient estuarine waters.