The data set contains census counts of deep-sea benthic foraminifera from the Late Quaternary section of sediment core GeoTü SL99. Given are counted individuals of benthic foraminiferal taxa versus sediment depth in cm below sea floor. The counts are based on representative splits of the size fraction >125 µm. The original counting was performed in 2020, a taxonomic revision was carried out in 2022. Gravity core GeoTü SL99, was retrieved at station no. 564 during R.V. METEOR cruise M51/3 in 2001 (Hemleben et al., 2003) from the southwestern Levantine Basin in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, at 33°00.0'N, 23°37.6'E, 1476 m water depth, core recovery 5.32 m. The sediment core was retrieved for the reconstruction of circulation and productivity changes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea during the late Quaternary with particular focus on sapropel formation.

The data set contains census counts of deep-sea benthic foraminifera from the Late Quaternary section of sediment core GeoTü SL167. Given are counted individuals of benthic foraminiferal taxa versus sediment depth in cm below sea floor. The counts are based on representative splits of the size fraction >125 µm. The original counting and taxonomic revision were carried out in 2022. Gravity core GeoTü SL167, was retrieved at station no. 960 during R.V. METEOR cruise M74/1b in 2007 (Bohrmann et al., 2010) from the northwestern Arabian Sea off Oman, at 22°37.2'N, 59°41.5'E, 774 m water depth, core recovery 7.39 m. The sediment core was retrieved for the reconstruction of circulation and productivity changes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea during the late Quaternary with particular focus on changes in the Indian monsoon system.

The data set contains census counts of deep-sea benthic foraminifera from sediment core GeoTü SL78. Given are counted individuals of benthic foraminiferal taxa versus sediment depth in cm below sea floor. The counts are based on representative splits of the size fraction >125 µm. The original counting was performed in 2010, a taxonomic revision was carried out in 2022. Gravity core GeoTü SL78, also referred to as M40/4-SL78-3, was retrieved during R.V. METEOR cruise M40/4 in 1998 (Hieke et al., 1999) from the upper bathyal Strait of Sicily in the central Mediterranean Sea, at 37°02.2'N, 13°11.4'E, 467 m water depth, core recovery 5.32 m. The sediment core was retrieved for the reconstruction of circulation and productivity changes in the in the eastern and central Mediterranean Sea during the last glacial and Holocene with particular focus on the formation of sapropel S1.

The data set contains census counts of deep-sea benthic foraminifera from sediment core M35003-4. Given are counted individuals of benthic foraminiferal taxa versus sediment depth in cm below sea floor. The counts are based on representative splits of the size fraction >125 µm. The original counting was performed between 2016 and 2018, a taxonomic revision was carried out in 2022. Gravity core M35003-4 was retrieved during R.V. METEOR cruise M35/1 in 1996 (Hemleben et al., 1998) from the bathyal western subtropical North Atlantic Ocean off the island of Grenada, Lesser Antilles, at 12°05.3'N, 61°14.6'W, 1299 m water depth, core recovery 9.63 m. The sediment core was retrieved for the reconstruction of productivity and circulation changes in the western tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean during the late Quaternary.

The data set contains census counts of deep-sea benthic foraminifera from sediment core GeoTü SL71. Given are counted individuals of benthic foraminiferal taxa versus sediment depth in cm below sea floor. The counts are based on representative splits of the size fraction >125 µm. The original counting was performed in 2011-2012, a taxonomic revision was carried out in 2022. Gravity core GeoTü SL71, also referred to as M40/4-SL71-2, was retrieved during R.V. METEOR cruise M40/4 in 1998 (Hieke et al., 1999) from the southeastern Ionian Basin in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, at 34°48.7'N, 23°11.7'E, 2788 m water depth, core recovery 6.22 m. The sediment core was retrieved for the reconstruction of circulation and productivity changes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea during the late Quaternary with particular focus on sapropel formation.

The data set contains census counts of deep-sea benthic foraminifera from the Holocene section of sediment core GeoTü SL99. Given are counted individuals of benthic foraminiferal taxa versus sediment depth in cm below sea floor. The counts are based on representative splits of the size fraction >125 µm. The original counting was performed in 2020, a taxonomic revision was carried out in 2022. Gravity core GeoTü SL99, was retrieved at station no. 564 during R.V. METEOR cruise M51/3 in 2001 (Hemleben et al., 2003) from the southwestern Levantine Basin in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, at 33°00.0'N, 23°37.6'E, 1476 m water depth, core recovery 5.32 m. The sediment core was retrieved for the reconstruction of circulation and productivity changes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea during the late Quaternary with particular focus on sapropel formation.

The coarse fraction content and the oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions of two morphotyes of planktic foraminifers Neogloboquadrina pachyderma were determined from sediment samples obtained from sediment core PS93/031-5. The age model is based on 9 radiocarbon datings obtained on 2000 specimens of N. pachyderma each.Grain size measurements occurred in May-July 2017. Stable isotope measurements were performed in August 2018 to February 2019. According to radiocarbon datings (https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.930416) converted to calibrated years with the program Calib 8.2 (http://calib.org/calib/), using the IntCal20 data set and applying a reservoir correction of 550 years), the core covers the interval of 3,750-23,230 years before present, with the hiatus covering the interval 12,660-18,550 years.Sediment core PS93/031-5 was obtained during RV POLARSTERN expedition PS93.1 in the northwestern Fram Strait on the Northeast Greenland continental margin from 2,135 m water depth.The data were collected to reconstruct the Late Quaternary paleoenvironment in the northwestern Fram Strait, the glacial history of the northeast Greenland shelf, and the export of freshwater from the Arctic to the North Atlantic in the last ca. 21,000 years.Sediment slices of approx. 5 mm thickness were taken from sediment core PS93/031-5 every 0.5 cm (30 g dry sediment per sample). Sediments were freeze-dried, weighed, and washed with deionized water through a 63 µm mesh. The remaining coarse fraction was dried at 50°C and weighed. Coarse fraction percentages were calculated as [coarse fraction weight] * 100 / [dry bulk weight].Planktic foraminifers Neogloboquadrina pachyderma were hand-picked from the 100-250 µm fraction for stable isotope measurements. 25 specimens of morphotypes 1 and 2 as well as 40 specimens of morphotypes 4 and 5 (following the morphotype concept of Eynaud, 2011) were analyzed separately for stable oxygen and carbon isotope compositions (δ18O, δ13C) in the stable isotope lab of AWI on a Finnigan MAT 253 gas mass spectrometer coupled to the automatic carbonate preparation device Kiel IV. The mass spectrometer was calibrated via international standard NBS19 to the PDB scale. Results are given in δ-notation vs. VPDB. Details on ice volume effect corrections and calculations of differences to oxygen isotope values of equilibrium calcite (δ18Oec) are given in Spielhagen and Mackensen (under review).

Sediment core PS93/031-5 was obtained during RV POLARSTERN expedition PS93.1 in the northwestern Fram Strait on the Northeast Greenland continental margin from 2,135 m water depth.Sediment slices of approx. 5 mm thickness were taken from sediment core PS93/031-5 every 0.5 cm (~30 g dry sediment per sample). Sediments were freeze-dried, weighed, and washed with deionized water through a 63 µm mesh. The remaining coarse fraction was dried at 50°C.Radiocarbon datings were performed on 9 samples of sediment core PS93/031-5 at the AMS-14C facility of the Leibniz Laboratory for Age Determination and Isotope Research of Kiel University from August 2018 to April 2019 on ~2,000 specimens of N. pachyderma (morphotype 1-2) per sample (identification following the morphotype concept of Eynaud, 2011).According to the radiocarbon datings (no reservoir correction applied) the sediment core covers the Late Quaternary time interval from 4,023 to 18,135 years before present (1950 CE). No sediments are present from the interval 11,170-15,950 years before present (hiatus at 25 cm core depth). When a conversion to calibrated years is performed with the program Calib 8.2 (http://calib.org/calib/), using the IntCal20 data set and applying a reservoir correction of 550 years, the core covers the interval of 3,750-23,230 years before present, with the hiatus covering the interval 12,660-18,550 years.

The gravity core (SK237 GC09) was collected from the central equatorial Indian Ocean (12°00.59′N, 70°52.20′E) from a water depth of 3001 m, during the 237th cruise of the ORV Sagar Kanya. The top section of the core was dated by four accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon dates on mixed planktic foraminifera, measured at the Center for Applied Isotope Studies, the University of Georgia, USA. The 14C dates were calibrated by using Calib7.0 software and MARINE13 dataset (Stuiver et al., 2018). The chronology of the older section was established by comparing the stable oxygen isotopic (δ18O) ratio of surface-dwelling planktic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber (white) with the LR04 global isostack (Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005). The elemental (Mg/Ca) and stable oxygen isotopic (δ18O) ratio of surface-dwelling planktic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber (white) was analyzed to reconstruct SST and evaporation-precipitation changes.

The gravity core (SK237 GC09) was collected from the central equatorial Indian Ocean (12°00.59′N, 70°52.20′E) from a water depth of 3001 m, during the 237th cruise of the ORV Sagar Kanya. The top section of the core was dated by four accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon dates on mixed planktic foraminifera, measured at the Center for Applied Isotope Studies, the University of Georgia, USA. The 14C dates were calibrated by using Calib7.0 software and MARINE13 dataset (Stuiver et al., 2018). The chronology of the older section was established by comparing the stable oxygen isotopic (δ18O) ratio of surface-dwelling planktic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber (white) with the LR04 global isostack (Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005). The elemental (Mg/Ca) and stable oxygen isotopic (δ18O) ratio of surface-dwelling planktic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber (white) was analyzed to reconstruct SST and evaporation-precipitation changes.