Oxygen-18 Composition of Oceanic Sulfate

Abstract

Comparison of experimental data with analyses of oceanic sulfate indicates that oceanic sulfate is not in oxygen isotope equilibrium with ocean water. Preliminary experiments suggest that the turnover of sulfate in the sulfur cycle is too rapid to allow equilibrium to be established. If this is so, the sulfur cycle must exert a significant influence on the oxygen balance of the oceanatmosphere system.