Alkenone-derived sea-surface temperature records of sediment cores GIK17940-2, GIK17954-2, GIK17961-2 and GIK17964-2

The SST profiles follow the glacial/interglacial pattern exhibiting differences between Last Glacial Maximum and Holocene that are 1°-3°C larger than those observed at the same latitudes in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In Termination I both planktonic foraminiferal d18O and SST exhibit well-defined Bølling-Allerød and Younger Dryas events with temperature differences between both periods of 0.8° and 0.4°C in north and south, respectively.

SSTs record a constant north-south difference of 1°C in the interglacials and nearly 2.5°C in the glacial stages. These differences define two distinct climatic and water circulation patterns that correspond with glacial/interglacial sea level oscillations which opened and closed water exchange with the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean through the present Sunda Shelf