Isotope hydrology of very saline surface waters.

The isotopic composition of very saline waters submitted to evaporation is affected by the water activity which decreases with increasing salt concentration. Examples of saline lakes and sabkhas are reported, and the ratio inflow/evaporation is estimated. Models are proposed to described the isotopic composition behaviour of these lakes during evaporation. Stable isotopes and tritium are also used to study the mixing patterns of waters in two deep brine lakes, i.e. the Bardawil lagoon fed by sea water and the Dead Sea. For the latter, the vertical tritium penetration is shown since 1963. -Author