(Table 1) The oxygen isotope composition of Site DSDP 480 diatoms

The oxygen isotope composition of marine diatoms from hydraulic piston-cored samples of DSDP Site 480 vary widely, reflecting the great temperature variations and large isotopic changes of surface water in the Gulf of California. Nevertheless, the results can be correlated with standard oxygen isotope records for the late Quaternary based on carbonates (such as the record of core V19-29). The diatom-based results also parallel oxygen isotope data on benthic foraminifera from Site 480, thus confirming that signals of environmental changes have been retained in the diatom oxygen isotope record throughout the section. The data therefore allow us to assign an oxygen isotope stratigraphy and to define the chronology of Site 480.