EGU23-8256
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8256
EGU General Assembly 2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

How will climate change affect the isotope composition of meteoric water in the Mediterranean area?

Marcello Liotta1, Giuseppe Castorina1, Simona Simoncelli2, and Annalisa Cherchi3,2
Marcello Liotta et al.
  • 1Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
  • 2Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Sezione di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
  • 3National Research Council of Italy, Institue of the Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), Bologna, Italy

The relationship between the isotopic composition of precipitation in the Mediterranean Sea, the atmospheric circulation patterns over the region and groundwater properties has been topic of investigation in recent years. Overall, the link between the isotopic composition of precipitation and the Mediterranean climate raises the question of how future climate change could affect the isotope ratios of precipitation and groundwater. Past and future atmospheric properties (i.e. humidity, evaporation, precipitation and winds) over the Mediterranean region can be used to investigate the past and possibly understand future characteristics of meteoric water isotope composition. In order to evaluate how the climate change will affect the isotope composition of meteoric water, we re-evaluated previous rain events in light of well-defined climate framework. The main objective is to retrieve information on the atmospheric circulation systems based on ERA5 reanalysis and relate climate features with the isotope composition of selected rain events. This will allow to identify the most appropriate parameters needed to constrain the circulation systems responsible for those events and their isotope composition. Preliminary results to infer scenario-based considerations on the evolution of the meteoric recharge will be shown and discussed.

How to cite: Liotta, M., Castorina, G., Simoncelli, S., and Cherchi, A.: How will climate change affect the isotope composition of meteoric water in the Mediterranean area?, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8256, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8256, 2023.