A 200,000-year record of change in oxygen isotope composition of sulfate in a saline sediment core, Death Valley, California

delta(18)O values of sulfate minerals from a 186-m core (past 200,000 years ) in Death Valley varied from +9 to +23 parts per thousand (V-SMOW), Sulfat es that accumulated in the past ephemeral saline lake, salt pans, and mud h ats have relatively low delta(18)O values similar to those of present-day l ocal inflows. Sulfates that accumulated during two perennial lake intervals , however, have higher delta(18)O values, reflecting changes in temperature , lake water levels, and/or sulfur redox reactions. Over the same time, int erval, the delta(18)O record for sulfate had excursions that bear similarit ies to those found for carbonate in the Death Valley core, marine carbonate (SPEC-MAP), and polar ice in the Summit ice core, Greenland, The delta(18) O record differed considerably from the records reported for carbonate at O wens Lake and Devils Hole, which probably relates to different water source s. Death Valley, Owens Lake, and Devils Hole are responding to the same cli matic changes but manifesting them differently. Iri Death Valley sediments, the isotopic composition of sulfate may have potential as an indicator of paleoenvironmental changes, a (C) 1999 University of Washington.