It is reported that the intensity of rainfall will likely increase, on average, over the world on 2000. For water resources security, many studies for flow paths from rainfall or snowmelt to subsurface have been conducted. In Korea, few isotopic studies for characterizations of flow path have been undertaken. For a better understanding of how water derived from atmosphere moves to subsurface and from subsurface to stream, an analysis of precipitation and stream water using oxygen-18 and deuterium isotopes in a small watershed, Dorim-cheon, Seoul, was conducted with high resolution data. Variations of oxygen-18 in precipitation greater than 10‰ (δ¹⁸O_max = −1.21‰, δ¹⁸O_min = −11.23) were observed. Isotopic compositions of old water (groundwater) assumed as the stream water collected in advance were −8.98‰ and −61.85‰ for oxygen and hydrogen, respectively. Using a two-component mixing model, hydrograph separation of the stream water in Dorim-cheon was conducted based on weighted mean value of δ¹⁸O. As a result, except of instant dominance of rainfall, contribution of old water was dominant during the study period. On average, 71.3% of the old water and 28.7% of rainfall contributed to the stream water. The results show that even in the small watershed, which is covered with thin soil layer in granite mountain region, the stream water is considerably influenced by old water inflow rather than rainfall.

Keywords: Hydrograph separation;Stable water isotopes;Granite region;Old water contribution;