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Water as a Regional Factor
Water is the source of all life on earth. However, water is not equal to water: The world wide water sources are distinguishable by their individual isotope composition.
The world's oceans contain over 97 percent of all free water of the earth's surface. The evaporation of this water taking place at the earth's large ocean covered surface area causes the formation of clouds. The evaporated water drops out of the atmosphere again as rain, then it evaporates and rains down again. Throughout this entire cycle, the water is following the movement of the great air masses and changes its isotope composition continuously. It is because of this fact that a specific isotope number is shaping up for every region on earth which can be detected in the region's precipitation, plants as well as in any water containing product.
In Europe, an isotope gradient from west to east is generated by a prevalent west wind, and the world wide effect is additionally causing a decline from south to north. The geographical isotope distribution of the water thus allows a precise identification of the origin of products containing water. . For this reason, the water's isotope-ratios D/H and 18O/16O are referred to as "geographical factors".
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Isotopic pattern of the groundwater in Germany
