Description: The Northern Bay of Bengal (NBoB) is a globally important region for deep-sea organic matter (OM) deposition due to massive fluvial discharge from the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (G-B-M) rivers and moderate to high surface productivity. Previous studies have focused on carbon burial in turbiditic sediments of the Bengal Fan. However, little is known about the storage of carbon in pelagic and hemipelagic sediments of the Bay of Bengal over millennial time scales. This study presents a comprehensive history of OM origin and fate as well as a quantification of carbon sediment storage in the Eastern Bengal Slope (EBS) during the last 18 ka. Bulk organic proxies (TOC, TIC, TN, d13CTOC, d15NTN) and content and composition of total hydrolysable amino acids (THAA) in a sediment core (SO188-342KL) from the EBS were analyzed. Three periods of high OM accumulation were identified: the Late Glacial (LG), the Bölling/Alleröd (B/A), and the Early Holocene Climatic Optimum (EHCO). Lower eustatic sea level before 15 ka BP allowed a closer connection between the EBS and the fluvial debouch, favoring high terrestrial OM input to the core site. This connection was progressively lost between 15 and 7 ka BP as sea level rose to its present height and terrestrial OM input decreased considerably. Export and preservation of marine OM was stimulated during periods of summer monsoon intensification (B/A and EHCO) as a consequence of higher surface productivity enhanced by cyclonic-eddy nutrient pumping and fluvial nutrient delivery into the photic zone. Changes in the THAA composition indicate that the marine plankton community structure shifted from calcareous-dominated before 13 ka BP to siliceous-dominated afterwards. They also indicate that the relative proportion of marine versus terrestrial OM deposited at site 342KL was primarily driven by relative sea level and enlarged during the Holocene. The ballasting effect of lithogenic particles during periods of high coastal proximity and/or enhanced fluvial discharge promoted the export and preservation of OM. The high organic carbon accumulation rates in the EBS during the LG (18-17 ka BP) were 5-fold higher than at present and comparable to those of glacial upwelling areas. Despite the differences in sediment and OM transport and storage among the Western and Eastern sectors of the NBoB, this region remains important for global carbon sequestration during sea level low-stands. In addition, the summer monsoon was a key promotor of terrestrial and marine OM export to the deep-ocean, highlighting its relevance as regulator of the global carbon budget.

Description: The dataset comprises contents, mass-accumulation rates and compound-specific radiocarbon data of several terrigenous biomarkers in sediment cores from the Northwest Pacific (core SO201-2-12KL) and the Bering Sea (cores SO201-2-114KL, SO202/1_18-6 and SO202/1_18-3). The dataset includes contents and mass accumulation rates of high molecular weight n-alkanoic acids, high molecular weight n-alkanes and branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers. Moreover, contents and fractional abundances of homohopane isomers are given. Contents are calculated relative to total organic carbon contents and to the dry weight of the sediment. The dataset also contains Paq values and the carbon preference indices of n-alkanoic acids and n-alkanes. Compound-specific radiocarbon data have been obtained from high molecular weight n-alkanoic acids (n-C26:0 alkanoic acid) and high molecular weight n-alkanes (n-C23, n-C27 and n-C29 alkanes). The F14C has been corrected for procedural blanks associated with the isolation of the biomarkers. The data compilation contains the measured (AMS-results) as well as the blank-corrected F14C values. The 14C-data are reported with the 1sigma uncertainty.

Description: Little is known about the climate evolution on the Kamchatka Peninsula during the last glacial?interglacial transition as existing climate records do not reach beyond 12 ka BP. In this study, a summer temperature record for the past 20 kyr is presented. Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers, terrigenous biomarkers suitable for continental air temperature reconstructions, were analyzed in a sediment core from the western continental margin off Kamchatka in the marginal northwest Pacific (NW Pacific). The record suggests that summer temperatures on Kamchatka during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) equaled modern temperatures. We suggest that strong southerly winds associated with a pronounced North Pacific High pressure system over the subarctic NW Pacific accounted for the warm conditions. A comparison with an Earth system model reveals discrepancies between model and proxy-based reconstructions for the LGM temperature and atmospheric circulation in the NW Pacific realm. The deglacial temperature development is characterized by abrupt millennial-scale temperature oscillations. The Bølling?Allerød warm phase and the Younger Dryas cold spell are pronounced events, suggesting a connection to North Atlantic climate variability.

Description: It has been proposed that North Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) evolution was intimately linked to North Atlantic climate oscillations during the last glacial-interglacial transition. However, during the early deglaciation and the Last Glacial Maximum, the SST development in the subarctic northwest Pacific and the Bering Sea is poorly constrained as most existing deglacial SST records are based on alkenone paleothermometry, which is limited prior to 15 ka B.P. in the subarctic North Pacific realm. By applying the TEXL86 temperature proxy we obtain glacial-Holocene-SST records for the marginal northwest Pacific and the Western Bering Sea. Our TEXL86-based records and existing alkenone data suggest that during the past 15.5 ka, SSTs in the northwest Pacific and the Western Bering Sea closely followed millennial-scale climate fluctuations known from Greenland ice cores, indicating rapid atmospheric teleconnections with abrupt climate changes in the North Atlantic. Our SST reconstructions indicate that in the Western Bering Sea SSTs drop significantly during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1), similar to the known North Atlantic climate history. In contrast, progressively rising SST in the northwest Pacific is different to the North Atlantic climate development during HS1. Similarities between the northwest Pacific SST and climate records from the Gulf of Alaska point to a stronger influence of Alaskan Stream waters connecting the eastern and western basin of the North Pacific during this time. During the Holocene, dissimilar climate trends point to reduced influence of the Alaskan Stream in the northwest Pacific.

Description: Compound-specific radiocarbon data have been obtained from terrigenous biomarkers, i.e. high molecular weight n-alkanoic acids (n-C26:0 alkanoic acid) and high molecular weight n-alkanes (n-C23, n-C27 and n-C29 alkanes). The F14C has been corrected for procedural blanks associated with the isolation of the biomarkers. The data compilation contains the measured (AMS-results) as well as the blank-corrected F14C values. The 14C-data are reported with the 1sigma uncertainty.

Description: Compound-specific radiocarbon data have been obtained from terrigenous biomarkers, i.e. high molecular weight n-alkanoic acids (n-C26:0 alkanoic acid) and high molecular weight n-alkanes (n-C23, n-C27 and n-C29 alkanes). The F14C has been corrected for procedural blanks associated with the isolation of the biomarkers. The data compilation contains the measured (AMS-results) as well as the blank-corrected F14C values. The 14C-data are reported with the 1sigma uncertainty.

Description: Compound-specific radiocarbon data have been obtained from terrigenous biomarkers, i.e. high molecular weight n-alkanoic acids (n-C26:0 alkanoic acid) and high molecular weight n-alkanes (n-C23, n-C27 and n-C29 alkanes). The F14C has been corrected for procedural blanks associated with the isolation of the biomarkers. The data compilation contains the measured (AMS-results) as well as the blank-corrected F14C values. The 14C-data are reported with the 1sigma uncertainty.

Description: Compound-specific radiocarbon data have been obtained from terrigenous biomarkers, i.e. high molecular weight n-alkanoic acids (n-C26:0 alkanoic acid) and high molecular weight n-alkanes (n-C23, n-C27 and n-C29 alkanes). The F14C has been corrected for procedural blanks associated with the isolation of the biomarkers. The data compilation contains the measured (AMS-results) as well as the blank-corrected F14C values. The 14C-data are reported with the 1sigma uncertainty.