Articles | Volume 29, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2097-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2097-2025
Technical note
 | 
28 Apr 2025
Technical note |  | 28 Apr 2025

Technical note: An assessment of the relative contribution of the Soret effect to open-water evaporation

Michael L. Roderick and Callum J. Shakespeare

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Short summary
Earth scientists assume that evaporation depends on the gradient in water vapour concentration (Fick’s law), but this is only true in an isothermal system. Temperature gradients can impact evaporation via the Soret effect. Here we evaluate the relative magnitude of the Soret effect and find that it is at least 2 orders of magnitude smaller than classical concentration-dependent mass (“Fickian”) diffusion. This result justifies the standard practice of assuming evaporation follows Fick’s law.
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