A ~220,000-year record recovered in a 120-m-long sediment core from Bear Lake, Utah and Idaho, provides an opportunity to reconstruct climate change in the Great Basin and compare it with global climate records. Paleomagnetic data exhibit a geomagnetic feature that possibly occurred during the Laschamp excursion (ca. 40 ka). Although the feature does not exhibit excursional behavior (≥40° departure from the expected value), it might provide an additional age constraint for the sequence. Temporal changes in salinity, which are likely related to changes in freshwater input (mainly through the Bear River) or evaporation, are indicated by variations in mineral magnetic properties. These changes are represented by intervals with preserved detrital Fe-oxide minerals and with varying degrees of diagenetic alteration, including sulfidization. On the basis of these changes, the Bear Lake sequence is divided into seven mineral magnetic zones. The differing magnetic mineralogies among these zones reflect changes in deposition, preservation, and formation of magnetic phases related to factors such as lake level, river input, and water chemistry. The occurrence of greigite and pyrite in the lake sediments corresponds to periods of higher salinity. Pyrite is most abundant in intervals of highest salinity, suggesting that the extent of sulfidization is limited by the availability of SO 4 2‒ . During MIS 2 (zone II), Bear Lake transgressed to capture the Bear River, resulting in deposition of glacially derived hematite-rich detritus from the Uinta Mountains. Millennial-scale variations in the hematite content of Bear Lake sediments during the last glacial maximum (zone II) resemble Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) oscillations and Heinrich events (within dating uncertainties), suggesting that the influence of millennial-scale climate oscillations can extend beyond the North Atlantic and influence climate of the Great Basin. The magnetic mineralogy of zones IV–VII (MIS 5, 6, and 7) indicates varying degrees of post-depositional alteration between cold and warm substages, with greigite forming in fresher conditions and pyrite in the more saline conditions.

We have studied the magnetic properties of wet and dry late Pleistocene Lake Lisan sediments and the Holocene Dead Sea sediments. Our initial prediction was that the properties of both would be quite similar, because they have similar source and lake conditions, unless diagenetic change had occurred. Rock magnetic and paleomagnetic experiments revealed three stages of magnetization acquisition. Our findings suggest two magnetic carriers in the Holocene Dead Sea and wet Lisan sediments: titanomagnetite and greigite. The titanomagnetite grains are detrital and carry a detrital remanent magnetization (DRM), whereas the greigite is diagenetic in origin and carries a chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) that dominates the total natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of Holocene Dead Sea and wet Lisan sediments. The magnetization of dry Lisan sediments is a DRM and resides in multidomain (MD) grains. We propose that magnetic properties of the Lisan Formation and Holocene Dead Sea sediments can be explained by a model that incorporates dissolution, precipitation, and alteration of magnetic carriers. At the time of deposition, titanomagnetite grains of varying size were deposited in Lake Lisan and the Holocene Dead Sea, recording the geomagnetic field via a primary DRM. Sedimentation was followed by partial or complete dissolution of titanomagnetite in anoxic lake bottom conditions. As the kinetics of dissolution depends upon surface area, the single-domain (SD) grains dissolved faster, leaving only the larger pseudo-single domain (PSD) and MD grains. Titanomagnetite dissolution occurred simultaneously with precipitation of greigite in anoxic, sulfate-reducing conditions probably related to bacterial degradation of organic matter. This process added a secondary CRM that overwhelmed the DRM and the primary geomagnetic record. Later, when the level of Lake Lisan dropped, these sediments were exposed to air. At this time, the greigite was oxidized, removing the CRM from the system and leaving only the original detrital PSD and MD titanomagnetite grains as the dominant DRM carriers. Presently, wet Lisan sediments have not been completely altered and therefore contain secondary greigite preserved by the original formation water that carries a secondary CRM. Thus, the magnetization in the Holocene Dead Sea and the wet Lisan magnetic record cannot be considered as an accurate, reliable geomagnetic record, while magnetization of dry Lisan sediments is a primary DRM.