(Table 1) Age determination of sediment core SO136-003GC

We compile and compare data for the last 150,000 years from four deep-sea cores in the midlatitude zone of the Southern Hemisphere. We recalculate sea surface temperature estimates derived from foraminifera and compare these with estimates derived from alkenones and magnesium/calcium ratios in foraminiferal carbonate and with accompanying sedimentological and pollen records on a common absolute timescale. Using a stack of the highest-resolution records, we find that first-order climate change occurs in concert with changes in insolation in the Northern Hemisphere. Glacier extent and inferred vegetation changes in Australia and New Zealand vary in tandem with sea surface temperatures, signifying close links between oceanic and terrestrial temperature. In the Southern Ocean, rapid temperature change of the order of 6°C occurs within a few centuries and appears to have played an important role in midlatitude climate change. Sea surface temperature changes over longer periods closely match proxy temperature records from Antarctic ice cores. Warm events correlate with Antarctic events A1-A4 and appear to occur just before Dansgaard-Oeschger events 8, 12, 14, and 17 in Greenland.

(Table 1) Sea surface temperature reconstruction for eastern equatorial Pacific surface sediment samples

Significant uncertainties persist in the reconstruction of past sea surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific, especially regarding the amplitude of the glacial cooling and the details of the post-glacial warming. Here we present the first regional calibration of alkenone unsaturation in surface sediments versus mean annual sea surface temperatures (maSST). Based on 81 new and 48 previously published data points, it is shown that open ocean samples conform to established global regressions of Uk'37 versus maSST and that there is no systematic bias from seasonality in the production or export of alkenones, or from surface ocean nutrient concentrations or salinity. The flattening of the regression at the highest maSSTs is found to be statistically insignificant. For the near-coastal Peru upwelling zone between 11-15°S and 76-79°W, however, we corroborate earlier observations that Uk'37 SST estimates significantly over-estimate maSSTs at many sites. We posit that this is caused either by uncertainties in the determination of maSSTs in this highly dynamic environment, or by biasing of the alkenone paleothermometer toward El Niño events as postulated by Rein et al. (2005).

(Table 1) Age determination of sediment core SO139-74KL

A multiproxy record has been acquired from a piston core (SO139-74KL) taken offshore southern Sumatra, an area which is situated in the southwestern sector of the tropical Indo-Pacific Warm Pool. The high-resolution data sets (X-ray fluorescence, total organic carbon, and C37 alkenones) were used to track changes in paleoproductivity, freshwater budget, and sea surface temperature (SST) of the tropical climate system at orbital time scales over the past 300 ka. Our paleoclimatic data show that enhanced marine paleoproductivity was directly related to strengthening of coastal upwelling during periods of increased boreal summer insolation and associated SE monsoon strength with a precessional cyclicity. Changes in freshwater supply were primarily forced by precession-controlled changes in boreal NW winter monsoon rainfall enclosing an additional sea level component. SST variations of 2°-5°C occurred at eccentricity and precessional cyclicity. We suggest that the sea surface temperature variability off southern Sumatra is predominantly related to three major causes: (1) variations in upwelling intensity; (2) an elevated freshwater input into the southern Makassar Strait leading to reduced supply of warmer surface waters from the western Pacific and increased subsurface water transport via the Indonesian Throughflow into the Indian Ocean; and (3) long-term changes in the intensity or frequency of low-latitude climate phenomena, such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation.

Bulk geochemical and lipid biomarker data for sediment core W8402A-14

Eleven sediment samples taken downcore and representing the past 26 kyr of deposition at MANOP site C (0°57.2°N, 138°57.3°W) were analyzed for lipid biomarker composition. Biomarkers of both terrestrial and marine sources of organic carbon were identified. In general, concentration profiles for these biomarkers and for total organic carbon (TOC) displayed three common stratigraphic features in the time series: (1) a maximum within the surface sediment mixed layer (<=4 ka); (2) a broad minimum extending throughout the interglacial deposit; and (3) a deep, pronounced maximum within the glacial deposit. Using the biomarker records, a simple binary mixing model is described that assesses the proportion of terrestrial to marine TOC in these sediments. Best estimates from this model suggest that ~20% of the TOC is land-derived, introduced by long-range eolian transport, and the remainder is derived from marine productivity. The direct correlation between the records for terrestrial and marine TOC with depth in this core fits an interpretation that primary productivity at site C has been controlled by wind-driven upwelling at least over the last glacial/interglacial cycle. The biomarker records place the greatest wind strength and highest primary productivity within the time frame of 18 to 22 kyr B.P. Diagenetic effects limit our ability to ascertain directly from the biomarker records the absolute magnitude that different types of primary productivity have changed at this ocean location over the past 26 kyr.

Compilation of downward flux observations from sediment trap deployments in the Atlantic Ocean - Contribution to EURO-BASIN's Data integration

We provide a compilation of downward fluxes (total mass, POC, PON, BSiO2, CaCO3, PIC and lithogenic/terrigenous fluxes) from over 6000 sediment trap measurements distributed in the Atlantic Ocean, from 30 degree North to 49 degree South, and covering the period 1982-2011. Data from the Mediterranean Sea are also included. Data were compiled from different sources: data repositories (BCO-DMO, PANGAEA), time series sites (BATS, CARIACO), published scientific papers and/or personal communications from PI's. All sources are specifed in the data set. Data from the World Ocean Atlas 2009 were extracted to provide each flux observation with contextual environmental data, such as temperature, salinity, oxygen (concentration, AOU and percentage saturation), nitrate, phosphate and silicate.

Water temperature reconstructions based on paired Uk'37 and Tex86 records, and paired surface and subsurface Mg/Ca records

This dataset contains the collection of available published paired Uk'37 and Tex86 records spanning multi-millennial to multi-million year time scales, as well as a collection of Mg/Ca-derived temperatures measured in parallel on surface and subsurface dwelling foraminifera, both used in the analyses of Ho and Laepple, Nature Geoscience 2016. As the signal-to-noise ratios of proxy-derived Holocene temperatures are relatively low, we selected records that contain at least the last deglaciation (oldest sample >18kyr BP).

14C concentrations of algal and archaeal lipids and their associated sea surface temperature proxies in the Black Sea

Understanding the preservation and deposition history of organic molecules is crucial for the understanding of paleoenvironmental information contained in their abundance ratios such as Uk'37 and TEX86 used as proxies for sea surface temperature (SST). Based on their relatively high refractivity, alkenones and glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) can survive postdepositional processes like lateral transport, potentially causing inferred SSTs to be misleading. Likewise, selective preservation of alkenones and GDGTs may cause biases of the SST proxies themselves and can lead to decoupling of both proxy records. Here we report compound-specific radiocarbon data of marine biomarkers including alkenones, GDGTs, and low molecular weight (LMW) n-fatty acids from Black Sea sediments deposited under different redox regimes to evaluate the potentially differential preservation of both biomarker classes and its effect on the SST indices Uk'37 and TEX86 . The decadal D14C values of alkenones, GDGTs, and LMW n-fatty acids indicate similar preservation under oxic, suboxic, and anoxic redox regimes and no contribution of pre-aged compounds, e.g., by lateral supply. Moreover, similar 14C concentrations of crenarchaeol, alkenones, and LMW n-fatty acids imply that the thaumarchaeotal GDGTs preserved in these sediments are produced in the euphotic zone rather than in subsurface/thermocline waters. However, we observe biomarker-based SSTs that strongly deviate (deltaSST up to 8.4 °C) from in situ measured mean annual SSTs in the Black Sea. This is not due to redox-dependent differential biomarker preservation as implied by their D14C values and spatial SST pattern. Since contributions from different sources can largely be excluded, the deviation of the Uk'37 and TEX86 proxy-derived SSTs from in situ SSTs requires further study of phylogenetic and other yet unknown environmental controls on alkenone and GDGT lipid distributions in the Black Sea.

(Table T1) N-alkane, n-alcohol and n-fatty acid concentrations in ODP Site 184-1147 and 184-1148 sediments

Lipid compositions of sediments recovered during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 184 in the South China Sea have been identified and quantified. The identified lipids can be ascribed to terrigenous and marine sources. Terrigenous lipids are mainly C27, C29, C31 n-alkanes, C26, C28, C30 n-fatty acids, and n-alcohols, which were derived from leaf waxes of higher land plants and transported to the sea by airborne dust or fresh water. Marine lipids, mainly C37 and C38 alkenones, C30 diol, and C30 and C32 keto-ols, were from microalgae, notably haptophytes and eustigmatophytes. Elevated concentrations and accumulation rates of both terrigenous and marine lipids in the interval 202-245 meters composite depth (mcd) and 0-166 mcd were postulated to be related to the development of the East Asian monsoon at 6-8 Ma and enhanced variations of the developed East Asian monsoon after 3.2 Ma, respectively. The pronounced late Oligocene input of terrigenous lipids reflects the paleoenvironment of a newly opened, narrow basin, with restricted ocean waters and the proximity of continental runoff.

Alkenone and foraminifera records from sediment samples off Namibia

Radiocarbon stratigraphy is an essential tool for high resolution paleoceanographic studies. Age models based on radiocarbon ages of foraminifera are commonly applied to a wide range of geochemical studies, including the investigation of temporal leads and lags. The critical assumption is that temporal coupling between foraminifera and other sediment constituents, including specific molecular organic compounds (biomarkers) of marine phytoplankton, e.g. alkenones, is maintained in the sediments. To test this critical assumption in the Benguela upwelling area, we have determined radiocarbon ages of total C37-C39 alkenones in 20 samples from two gravity cores and three multicorer cores. The cores were retrieved from the continental shelf and slope off Namibia, and samples were taken from Holocene, deglacial and Last Glacial Maximum core sections. The alkenone radiocarbon ages were compared to those of planktic foraminifera, total organic carbon, fatty acids and fine grained carbonates from the same samples. Interestingly, the ages of alkenones were 1000 to 4500 yr older than those of foraminifera in all samples. Such age differences may be the result of different processes: Bioturbation associated with grain size effects, lateral advection of (recycled) material and redeposition of sediment on upper continental slopes due to currents or tidal movement are examples for such processes. Based on the results of this study, the age offsets between foraminifera and alkenones in sediments from the upper continental slope off Namibia most probably do not result from particle-selective bioturbation processes. Resuspension of organic particles in response to tidal movement of bottom waters with velocities up to 25 cm/s recorded near the core sites is the more likely explanation. Our results imply that age control established using radiocarbon measurements of foraminifera may be inadequate for the interpretation of alkenone-based proxy data. Observed temporal leads and lags between foraminifera based data and data derived from alkenone measurements may therefore be secondary signals, i.e. the result of processes associated with particle settling and biological activity.