Stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in sub-Arctic lake waters from northern Sweden

Lakes in sub-Arctic regions have the potential of retaining many different aspects of water isotope composition in their sediments which can be used for palaeoclimate reconstruction. It is therefore important to understand the modern isotope hydrology of these lakes. Here we discuss the significance of variations in water isotope composition of a series of lakes located in north-west Swedish Lapland. Climate in this region is forced by changes in the North Atlantic which renders it an interesting area for climate reconstructions. We compare delta O-18(lake) and delta H-2(lake) collected between 2001 and 2006 and show that lakes in this sub-Arctic region are currently mainly recharged by shallow groundwater and precipitation which undergoes little subsequent evaporation, and that the delta O-18 and delta H-2 composition of input to the majority of the lakes varies on a seasonal basis between winter precipitation (spring thaw) and summer precipitation. Seasonal variations in the isotopic composition of the lake waters are larger in lakes with short residence times (<6 months), which react faster to seasonal changes in the precipitation, compared to lakes with longer residence times (>6 months), which retain an isotopic signal closer to that of annual mean precipitation. Lake waters also show a range of isotope values between sites due to catchment elevation and timing of snowmelt. The lake water data collected in this study was supported by isotope data from lake waters, streams and ground waters from 1995 to 2000 reported in other studies. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.