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Proxy records of hydrologic variability in the West Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) have revealed wide-scale changes in past convective activity in response to orbital and suborbital climate forcings. However, attributing proxy responses to regional changes in WPWP hydrology versus local variations in precipitation requires independent records linking the terrestrial and marine realms. We present high-resolution stable isotope, U-37(K) sea surface temperature, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning, and coccolithophore-derived paleoproductivity records covering the past 120ka from International Marine Global Change (IMAGES) Program Core MD06-3075 (6 degrees 29N, 125 degrees 50E, water depth 1878m), situated in the Davao Gulf on the southern side of Mindanao. XRF-derived log(Fe/Ca) records provide a robust proxy for runoff-driven sedimentary discharge from Mindanao, while past changes in local productivity are associated with variable freshwater runoff and stratification of the surface layer. Significant precessional-scale variability in sedimentary discharge occurred during marine isotope stage (MIS) 5, with peaks in discharge contemporaneous with Northern Hemisphere summer insolation minima. We attribute these changes to the latitudinal migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) over the WPWP together with variability in the strength of the Walker circulation acting on precessional timescales. Between 60 and 15ka sedimentary discharge at Mindanao was muted, displaying little orbital- or millennial-scale variability, likely in response to weakened precessional insolation forcing and lower sea level driving increased subsidence of air masses over the exposed Sunda Shelf. These results highlight the high degree of local variability in the precipitation response to past climate changes in the WPWP.

We present sea surface, upper thermocline, and benthic delta O-18 data, as well as temperature and paleoproductivity proxy data, from the International Marine Global Change Study Program (IMAGES) Core MD06-3067 (6 degrees 31' N, 126 degrees 30' E, 1575 m water depth), located in the western equatorial Pacific Ocean within the flow path of the Mindanao Current. Our records reveal considerable glacial-interglacial and suborbital variability in the Mindanao Dome upwelling over the last 160 kyr. Dome activity generally intensified during glacial intervals resulting in cooler thermocline waters, whereas it substantially declined during interglacials, in particular in the early Holocene and early marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 5e, when upwelling waters did not reach the thermocline. During MIS 3 and MIS 2, enhanced surface productivity together with remarkably low SST and low upper ocean thermal contrast provide evidence for episodic glacial upwelling to the surface, whereas transient surface warming marks periodic collapses of the Mindanao Dome upwelling during Heinrich events. We attribute the high variability during MIS 3 and MIS 2 to changes in the El Nino-Southern Oscillation state that affected boreal winter monsoonal winds and upper ocean circulation. Glacial upwelling intensified when a strong cyclonic gyre became established, whereas El Nino-like conditions during Heinrich events tended to suppress the cyclonic circulation, reducing Ekman transport. Thus, our findings demonstrate that variations in the Mindanao Dome upwelling are closely linked to the position and intensity of the tropical convection and also reflect far-field influences from the high latitudes.

Magnetic and grain size properties of a sediment core located in the western equatorial Pacific, off the southeastern tip of the Philippine island of Mindanao, are presented in an effort to reconstruct past changes in the East Asian Monsoon and deep ocean circulation during the last 160 kyrs. The sedimentary concentration of magnetic particles, interpreted to reflect past changes in runoff from Mindanao, varies almost in antiphase with Northern Hemisphere insolation. This suggests that precipitation was lower in the western equatorial Pacific region during boreal insolation maxima and thus corroborates model results showing opposing trends in precipitation between land and the marine realm there. Variations in the grain size distribution of the inorganic sediment fraction, as recorded by both the sortable silt mean size and the magnetic grain size, provide a monitor of changes in sediment reworking by bottom currents. The close correlation of this proxy of bottom current strength and the benthic delta(18)O record from the same site implies a tight coupling between deep water flow, most likely Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), and global climate.

We present sea surface and upper thermocline temperature records (60-100 year temporal resolution) spanning marine isotope stage 3 (similar to 24-62 ka B. P.) from International Marine Global Change Study core MD01-2378 (121 degrees 47.27'E and 13 degrees 04.95'S; 1783 m water depth) located in the outflow area of the Indonesian Throughflow within the Timor Sea. Stable isotopes and Mg/Ca of the near-surface-dwelling planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber (white) and the upper thermocline-dwelling Pulleniatina obliquiloculata reveal rapid changes in the thermal structure of the upper ocean during Heinrich events. Thermocline warming and increased delta O-18(seawater) (P. obliquiloculata record) during Heinrich events 3, 4, and 5 reflect weakening of the relatively cool and fresh thermocline flow and reduced export of less saline water from the North Pacific and Indonesian Seas to the tropical Indian Ocean. Three main factors influenced Indonesian Throughflow variability during marine isotope stage 3: (1) global slowdown in thermohaline circulation during Heinrich events triggered by Northern Hemisphere cooling, (2) increased freshwater export from the Java Sea into the Indonesian Throughflow controlled by rising sea level from similar to 60 to 47 ka, and (3) insolation-related changes in the Australasian monsoon with associated migration of hydrological fronts between Indian Ocean- and Indonesian Throughflow-derived water masses at similar to 46-40 ka.