Use of isotope techniques in lake dynamics investigations

Abstract

The investigation of stable isotopic composition of East African lake waters was conducted by scientists from the Department of Geology, University of Nairobi as part of the International Decade for the East African Lakes (IDEAL) project and in close collaboration with the scientists from Large Lakes Observatory of the University of Minnesota and the Isotope Hydrology Laboratory of the lAEA in Vienna. The Research Contract was part of the IAEA Co-ordinated Research Programme on Isotope Techniques in Lake Dynamics Investigations, and was sponsored by the Agency. Water and grab sediment samples were obtained from East African Lakes during the month of January and February, 1994 and July/August 1995. Water samples were analysed for oxygen and deuterium isotopic composition at the IAEA Laboratories in Vienna, Austria. In this final paper we report the resultsreport the results of the study of oxygen and deuterium isotopic composition from the East African lake waters.