(Table S1) Age determination of sediment core RAPiD-21-03K

A decadal resolution time series of sea surface temperature (SST) spanning the last two millennia is reconstructed by combining a proxy record from a new sediment sequence with previously published data from core MD99-2275, north of Iceland. The alkenone based SST reconstruction is validated with historic observational data and compared to a new similar temporal resolution reconstruction obtained from sediment core RAPiD21-3K, in the subpolar North Atlantic. The two SST paleorecords show consistent multidecadal scale coolings throughout the interval and similar expressions during the contrasted climatic periods 'colloquially known' as the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA) and Little Ice Age (LIA). In order to further understand the temporal and spatial SST variations and investigate the influence of natural forcings on the observed SST changes during the last millennium, we compare our time series to simulations using the Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace IPSLCM4-v2 climate model. This comparison highlights the potential importance of volcanism as a natural forcing driving coherent abrupt cooling events captured in the subpolar North Atlantic records.

(Table S1) Age determination of ODP Site 165-1002

A series of 14C measurements in Ocean Drilling Program cores from the tropical Cariaco Basin, which have been correlated to the annual-layer counted chronology for the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) ice core, provides a high-resolution calibration of the radiocarbon time scale back to 50,000 years before the present. Independent radiometric dating of events correlated to GISP2 suggests that the calibration is accurate. Reconstructed 14C activities varied substantially during the last glacial period, including sharp peaks synchronous with the Laschamp and Mono Lake geomagnetic field intensity minimal and cosmogenic nuclide peaks in ice cores and marine sediments. Simulations with a geochemical box model suggest that much of the variability can be explained by geomagnetically modulated changes in 14C production rate together with plausible changes in deep-ocean ventilation and the global carbon cycle during glaciation.

(Table S1) Relative abundances of coccolithophore taxa in surface sediment samples from the Equatorial and Southeastern Pacific

This study aims to contribute to a more detailed knowledge of the biogeography of coccolithophores in the Equatorial and Southeastern Pacific Ocean. Census data of fossil coccoliths are presented in a suite of core-top sediment samples from 15°N to 50.6°S and from 71°W to 93°W. Following standard preparation of smear slides, a total of 19 taxa are recognized in light microscopy and their relative abundances are determined for 134 surface sediment samples. Considering the multivariate character of oceanic conditions and their effects on phytoplankton, a Factor Analysis was performed and three factors were retained. Factor 1, dominated by Florisphaera profunda and Gephyrocapsa oceanica, includes samples located under warm water masses and indicates the occurrence of calcite dissolution in the water column in the area offshore Chile. Factor 2 is related to cold, low-salinity surface-water masses from the Chilean upwelling, and is dominated by Emiliania huxleyi, Gephyrocapsa sp. < 3 µm, Coccolithus pelagicus and Gephyrocapsa muellerae. Factor 3 is linked to more saline, coastal upwelling areas where Calcidiscus leptoporus and Helicosphaera carteri are the dominant species.

(Table S1) Age determination of sediment cores of the Gulf of Alaska

Oxygen isotope data from planktonic and benthic foraminifera, on a high-resolution age model (44 14C dates spanning 17,400 years), document deglacial environmental change on the southeast Alaska margin (59°33.32'N, 144°9.21'W, 682 m water depth). Surface freshening (i.e., d18O reduction of 0.8 per mil) began at 16,650 ± 170 cal years B.P. during an interval of ice proximal sedimentation, likely due to freshwater input from melting glaciers. A sharp transition to laminated hemipelagic sediments constrains retreat of regional outlet glaciers onto land circa 14,790 ± 380 cal years B.P. Abrupt warming and/or freshening of the surface ocean (i.e., additional d18O reduction of 0.9 per mil) coincides with the Bølling Interstade of northern Europe and Greenland. Cooling and/or higher salinities returned during the Allerød interval, coincident with the Antarctic Cold Reversal, and continue until 11,740 ± 200 cal years B.P., when onset of warming coincides with the end of the Younger Dryas. An abrupt 1 per mil reduction in benthic d18O at 14,250 ± 290 cal years B.P. likely reflects a decrease in bottom water salinity driven by deep mixing of glacial meltwater, a regional megaflood event, or brine formation associated with sea ice. Two laminated opal-rich intervals record discrete episodes of high productivity during the last deglaciation. These events, precisely dated here at 14,790 ± 380 to 12,990 ± 190 cal years B.P. and 11,160 ± 130 to 10,750 ± 220 cal years B.P., likely correlate to similar features observed elsewhere on the margins of the North Pacific and are coeval with episodes of rapid sea level rise. Remobilization of iron from newly inundated continental shelves may have helped to fuel these episodes of elevated primary productivity and sedimentary anoxia.

(Table S1, S4) Campanian-Maastrichtian benthic foraminifera from ODP Hole 113-690C

During the latest Cretaceous cooling phase, a positive shift in benthic foraminiferal d18O values lasting about 1.5 Myr (71.5-70 Ma) can be observed at a global scale (Campanian-Maastrichtian Boundary Event, CMBE). This d18O excursion is interpreted as being influenced by a change in intermediate- to deep-water circulation or by temporal build-up of Antarctic ice sheets. Here we test whether benthic foraminiferal assemblages from a southern high-latitudinal site near Antarctica (ODP Site 690) are influenced by the CMBE. If the d18O transition reflects a change in intermediate- to deep-water circulation from low-latitude to high-latitude water masses, then this change would result in cooler temperatures, higher oxygen concentration, and possibly lower organic-matter flux at the seafloor, resulting in a major benthic foraminiferal assemblage change. If, however, the d18O transition was mainly triggered by ice formation, no considerable compositional difference in benthic foraminiferal assemblages would be expected. Our data show a separation of the studied succession into two parts with distinctly different benthic foraminiferal assemblages. Species dominating the older part (73.0-70.5 Ma) tolerate less bottom water oxygenation and are typical components of low-latitude assemblages. In contrast, the younger part (70.0-68.0 Ma) is characterized by species that indicate well-oxygenated bottom waters and species common in high-latitude assemblages. We interpret the observed change in benthic foraminiferal assemblages toward a well-oxygenated environment to reflect the onset of a shift from low-latitude toward high-latitude dominated intermediate- to deep-water sources. This implies that a change in oceanic circulation was at least a major component of the CMBE.

(Table S1) FMR and rock magnetic parameters for upper Paleocene to lower Eocene strata, Site Ancora

Previous workers identified a magnetically anomalous clay layer deposited on the northern United States Atlantic Coastal Plain during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM). The finding inspired the highly controversial hypothesis that a cometary impact triggered the PETM. Here we present ferromagnetic resonance (FMR), isothermal and anhysteretic remanent magnetization, first-order reversal curve, and transmission electron microscopy analyses of late Paleocene and early Eocene sediments in drill core from Ancora, New Jersey. A novel paleogeographic analysis applying a recent paleomagnetic pole from the Faeroe Islands indicates that New Jersey during the initial Eocene had a ~6°-9° lower paleolatitude (~27.3° for Ancora) and a more zonal shoreline trace than in conventional reconstructions. Our investigations of the PETM clay from Ancora reveal abundant magnetite nanoparticles bearing signature traits of crystals produced by magnetotactic bacteria. This result, the first identification of ancient biogenic magnetite using FMR, argues that the anomalous magnetic properties of the PETM sediments are not produced by an impact. They instead reflect environmental changes along the eastern margin of North America during the PETM that led to enhanced production and/or preservation of magnetofossils.