Water isotope ratios reflect convection intensity rather than rain type proportions in the pan-tropics

Yu, Wusheng, Guo, Rong, Thompson, Lonnie, Zhang, Jinyi, Lewis, Stephen, Jing, Zhaowei, He, Junmei, Ma, Yaoming, Xu, Balquing, Wu, Guangjian, Tang, Wenjun, Wang, Wenjun, Ren, Pengjie, Zhang, Zhuaxia, and Qu, Dongmei (2024) Water isotope ratios reflect convection intensity rather than rain type proportions in the pan-tropics. Science Advances, 10 (33). eado3258.

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Abstract

Against the traditional view, a recently published theory argued that isotope ratios are higher in convective precipitation but lower in stratiform precipitation and proposed that isotope ratios reflect rain type proportions. This theory has been widely cited despite some early reservations. Whether the theory represents a faithful reflection of signals of water isotope ratios remains unclear. Here, we reassess its validity from different timescales and broader observations from the pantropics. Unexpectedly, our findings contradict the theory on daily, monthly, and even annual timescales. Pantropical precipitation isotope ratios remain strongly correlated to convection intensity but are independent of rain type proportions because stratiform precipitation isotope ratios cover a large range of values. We find that the theory has many serious weaknesses related to preferential data selection and suggest that new theories need to be validated at more locations on different timescales before gaining widespread acceptance.

Item ID: 83720
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 2375-2548
Copyright Information: Copyright © 2024 the Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a creative commons Attribution noncommercial license 4.0 (cc BY- nc).
Date Deposited: 25 Sep 2024 03:01
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