Examination Of Storm Cycles In A Rocky Mountain Subalpine Snowpack Using Δ18O Analysis And Seasonal Snow Pit Data
Jones, Josh 1 ; Hoffman, Cameron 2 ; Barckholtz, Mark 3 ; Beaty, Danielle 4 ;Salazar, Timothy 5 ; Smith, Hannah 6
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Water resources in the Western United States are primarily reliant on snow melt dominated catchments, and understanding these systems is crucial to ensuring continued water security. Analysis of δ18O throughout the layers of a subalpine snowpack can provide insight into the dynamics of the Rocky Mountain seasonal snow cycle and the origin of storm systems contributing to the snowpack. Isotopic composition of a mid-March subalpine snowpack at the Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research Site in the Colorado Front Range was determined via a Picarro L1102-i Isotopic Liquid Water Analyzer at the Kiowa Lab during the 2015 Snow Hydrology Internship in Geography at the ²ÊÃñ±¦µä. The magnitude of the isotopic variation between layers decreased over time as a result of melt events and snow metamorphosis, but the signature of these differences remained throughout the snow season and allowed storm events to be identified and tracked.