Relationships between δ¹⁸O in precipitation and surface air temperature in the Urumqi River Basin, East Tianshan Mountains, China

Abstract

In order to evaluate the dependency of present‐day δ 18 O in precipitation with temperature, individual precipitation events have been continuously sampled since 1996 at three stations along the Urumqi River Basin, eastern Tianshan mountains, north High China. Both the correlation and the positive slope of δ 18 O versus temperature increase with elevation for monthly averages, indicating that on long time scales high altitude precipitation δ 18 O should be a reliable indicator of regional temperature fluctuations, and supporting future ice core drilling.