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During RV Sonne-217 "MAJA" Cruise from Makassar (Indonesia) to Singapore from 25th July to 16th August 2011, we acquired Multibeam/Parasound-transects and deployed the shipboard CTD (with water sampler) as well as a multicorer and piston corer in three main working areas: 1) northern part of Makassar Strait, north of the Labani Channel including the Mahakam Delta and southernmost Celebes Sea; 2) central part of the Makassar Strait, south of the Labani Channel; and 3) southernmost part of the Makassar Strait including the Flores Sea and eastern Java Sea. The prime objective of the SO-217 MAJA cruise was to recover high resolution sediment archives to decipher the variability of the Indonesian Throughflow and to reconstruct regional climate history on decadal to millennial timescales over the past 150 000 years. To achieve this primary objective, 32 sediment and water stations were sampled along the Makassar Strait between the southern Celebes Sea, eastern Java Sea and eastern Flores Sea. The shipboard CTD including water sampler was deployed at 17 stations to obtain hydrographic profiles and sample the water column. The multicorer was deployed at 29 stations to obtain high quality sediment surface samples for core top calibrations. A total of 23 long piston cores with overall recovery of more than 350 m core length (26 m maximum core length, average core length over 15 m) provided high resolution sediment archives over the Holocene and the last two glacial cycles. All piston cores were measured for magnetic susceptibility in 2 cm intervals before being split into working and archive halves, the latter of which were described and measured for color reflectance in 1 cm ��� intervals. An initial shipboard stratigraphy was obtained by matching the magnetic susceptibility and lightness (L*) records with the stacked isotope record of Lisiecki and Raymo (2005). Prominent ash layers corresponding to the Tambora 1815 eruption and to earlier eruptions additionally provided invaluable stratigraphic marker beds for cross-correlation of piston cores recovered south of 5��S.