Articles | Volume 29, issue 22
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6577-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6577-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
21 Nov 2025
Research article |
| 21 Nov 2025
| 21 Nov 2025
Transport behavior displayed by water isotopes and potential implications for assessment of catchment properties
Dan Elhanati
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Erwin Zehe
Institute of Water Resources and River Basin Management, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
Ishai Dror
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Brian Berkowitz
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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Short summary
Measurements of water isotopes are often used to estimate water transit time distributions and aquifer storage thickness in catchments. However, laboratory-scale measurements show that water isotopes exhibit transport behavior identical to that of inert chemical tracers rather than of pure water. The measured mean tracer and apparent mean water velocities are not necessarily equal; recognition of this inequality is critical when estimating catchment properties such as aquifer storage thickness.
Measurements of water isotopes are often used to estimate water transit time distributions and...
