CORRELATION OF LATE-PLEISTOCENE LAKE-LEVEL OSCILLATIONS IN MONO LAKE,CALIFORNIA, WITH NORTH-ATLANTIC CLIMATE EVENTS

Oxygen-18 (O-18) values of sediment from the Wilson Creek Formation, M ono Basin, California, indicate three scales of temporal variation (Da nsgaard-Oeschger, Heinrich, and Milankovitch) in the hydrologic balanc e of Mono Lake between 35,400 and 12,900 C-14 yr B.P. During this inte rval, Mono Lake experienced four lowstands each lasting from 1000 to 2 000 yr, The youngest lowstand, which occurred between 15,500 and 14,00 0 C-14 yr B.P., was nearly synchronous with a desiccation of Owens Lak e, California. Paleomagnetic secular variation (PSV) data indicate tha t three of four persistent lowstands occurred at the same times as Hei nrich events H1, H2, and H4, (18)0 data indicate the two highest lake levels occurred similar to 18,000 and similar to 13,100 C-14 yr B.P., corresponding to passages of the mean position of the polar jet stream over the Mono Basin. Extremely low values of total inorganic carbon b etween 26,000 and 14,000 C-14 yr B.P. indicate glacial activity, corre sponding to a time when summer insolation was much reduced, (C) 1998 U niversity of Washington.