A compilation of mean values of the oxygen-isotope ratio relative to
standard mean ocean water (δ18O, in ‰) for 22 siIes
representative of conditions in northeastern Canada is complemented with
data on mean annual surface temperature, latitude, surface elevation, and
mean annual shortest distance to open ocean denoted by the 10% sea-ice
concentration boundary. Stepwise regression analysis is used to develop a
multivariate model suitable to inter the distribution of δ18O in
an area of complex topography and possibly mixed sourcing of advected water
vapor. The best model is produced by a run in the backward mode at the 95%
confidence level in which only temperature, latitude and distance to the
open ocean remain in the model (the correlation coefficient is 0.915, the
adjusted coefficient of determination is 0.809, the root mean square
residual is 1.62). This model is similar to the best δ18O
predictive model derived elsewhere for Greenland, suggesting a common
principal source of advected moisture.