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Isotope seasonality in soils
In last weeks #waterwednesday I briefly explained the reason behind the seasonality effect of stable water isotope composition. When water infiltrates into the soil, this signature is first preserved. However, as the water trickels further down, it mixes with preexisting water, slowly dampening the signature. This post is part of my water science communication series…
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Science Workshop 2023
Last week our team spend 3 days on a workacion, presenting and discussing our latest research. In total 30 early carreers to senior scientist from the chair of hydrology as well as the chair of environmental & hydrological systems joined the trip to a remote hut on the scenic mountain “Belchen” in the southern Black…
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How heavy is rain? Basics of stable water isotopes
Winter rain is lighter than that in summer. Does not make sense? Yes, it does! The cause are stable water isotopes. Water is made up of 2 types of atoms: Hydrogen (H) and Oxygen (O). These Atoms come in different varietys, also called isotopes. The isotopes of water exist in two weight levels: light 1H…
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On the origin of preferential flowpaths
In some soils over 95% of infiltrated rainwater travels through less than .5% of the total soil volume. The reason? Macropores! In last weeks post I explained the basic concept of how water moves through hillslope soils with the most important feature being “water highways”, scientifically called preferential flowpaths or macropores. These pathways can have…
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Video: How we take soil samples for soilwater analysis
For my PhD thesis we will drill 500+ holes and take over 6000 soil-samples. Here you see our process: