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The East Australian Current (EAC) is the western boundary current of the South Pacific Subtropical Gyre that transports warm tropical waters to higher southern latitudes and significantly impacts the climate of Australia and New Zealand. Modern observations show that the EAC has strengthened with rising global temperatures. However, little is known about the pre‐industrial variability of the EAC and the forcing mechanisms. Planktic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber (white) Mg/Ca‐based sea surface temperature reconstructions offshore northeastern Australia between 15° and 26°S reveal an increase by ∼1.2°C after ∼1400 CE. We infer that the increase in temperature is related to a stronger EAC heat transport that is likely driven by a strengthening of the Southern Hemisphere subtropical gyre circulation due to a progressive shift of the Southern annular mode toward its positive phase and of El Niño‐Southern Oscillation toward more El Niño‐like conditions. Plain Language Summary: The East Australian Current (EAC) transports large amounts of heat out of the Western Pacific Warm Pool into the subtropics and subpolar regions, thereby regulating the local and global climate. The few existing reconstructions of past changes in transport and temperature of the EAC are contradictory resulting in a knowledge gap in long‐term variability of the southwest Pacific currents, which in turn hampers a reliable projection of future tropical and subtropical climate development. We use sea surface temperature reconstructions along the EAC path off northeastern Australia to estimate changes in the EAC heat transport over the past 4,000 years and its potential driving mechanisms. Our results reveal an increase in temperature after ∼1400 CE, which we relate to an intensification of the EAC strength. The strengthening of the EAC after ∼1400 CE is likely associated with a strengthening of the Southern Hemisphere subtropical gyre circulation due to a progressive shift of the Southern annular mode toward its positive phase and of El Niño‐Southern Oscillation toward more El Niño‐like conditions. Key Points: Mg/Ca‐based sea surface temperature reconstructions reveal an intensification of the East Australian Current (EAC) after ∼1400 CEA stronger EAC is likely driven by strengthening of the Southern Hemisphere subtropical gyre due to a Southern Annular Mode shift toward its positive phaseMore El Niño‐like conditions may also strengthen the EAC by an equatorward shift of the South Equatorial Current bifurcation latitude [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pteropods are marine holoplanktonic gastropods inhabiting epipelagic and mesopelagic waters with a wide distribution from tropical to polar regions. However, their ontogeny and calcification depth/habitat depth are not well understood. To this end, we analyzed the stable oxygen isotopic composition of five pteropod species (Diacavolinia angulata , Diacavolinia longirostris , Heliconoides inflatus , Limacina bulimoides and Telodiacria quadridentata) from two multicores recovered offshore north-eastern Australia between 15°S and 26°S in the Coral Sea. We applied the Limacina dissolution index (LDX) to evaluate the preservation status of the pteropods, which revealed very good to moderate aragonite preservation at both locations. Comparison of the pteropod shell oxygen isotopic composition with predicted aragonite equilibrium oxygen isotope values implies calcification depths of 50 ± 20 m for D. longirostris and 75 ± 30 m for D. angulata , suggesting that they predominantly calcify in the mixed layer during austral summer. The apparent calcification depths of T. quadridentata and H. inflatus at 90 ± 30 m and 120 ± 30 m at both sites indicate a year-round, lower mixed layer and upper thermocline habitat depth, respectively, while T. quadridentata appear to calcify at temperatures above 22 °C. The calcification depth of L. bulimoides is deeper (100 ± 15 m) at the northern station and shallower (75 ± 30 m) at the southern station that might also hint to a temperature control. The relative narrow calcification depth ranges of the investigated pteropod species in the Coral Sea bolster their potential for reconstructing past ocean conditions at the mixed layer and thermocline. • Calcification depth estimates of five pteropod species in the Coral Sea using shell stable oxygen isotopes • Moderate to good preservation of pteropod shells in the Coral Sea • D. angulata and D. longirostris calcify within the mixed layer in the Coral Sea • H. inflatus and L. bulimoides calcify within the thermocline • T. quadridentata has a more variable habitat depth, ranging from the mixed layer to the lower thermocline [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]