Past changes in North Pacific sea surface temperatures and sea-
ice conditions are proposed to play a crucial role in deglacial
climate development and ocean circulation but are less well
known than from the North Atlantic. Here, we present new
alkenone-based sea surface temperature records from the
subarctic northwest Pacific and its marginal seas (Bering Sea
and Sea of Okhotsk) for the time interval of the last 15 kyr,
indicating millennial-scale sea surface temperature fluctuations
similar to short-term deglacial climate oscillations known from
Greenland ice core records. Past changes in sea-ice distribution
are derived from relative percentage of specific diatom groups
and qualitative assessment of the IP25 biomarker related to sea-
ice diatoms. The deglacial variability in sea-ice extent matches
the sea surface temperature fluctuations. These fluctuations
suggest a linkage to deglacial variations in Atlantic meridional
overturning circulation and a close atmospheric coupling between
the North Pacific and N