Latest Quaternary North Pacific surface-water responses imply atmosphere-driven climate instability

A full sequence of brief interstadials (Dansgaard-Oeschger [D-O] cycles) ar e recorded from 60 to 25 ka in Santa Barbara basin, California, Ocean Drill ing Program Hole 893A, by planktonic foraminiferal isotopic and assemblage changes at unparalleled high resolution for the oceans. Synchronous climati c response between north Pacific surface waters and the Greenland ice sheet during D-O cycling is strongly indicated by remarkable similarities in spe ed, magnitude, and character of rapid oceanic and atmospheric reorganizatio ns. Inferred sea-surface temperature warmings of as much as 5 degrees C wit hin a few decades, and brief warming overshoots of as much as 3 degrees C s uggest involvement of an atmospheric amplification. Top-down, in situ atmos pheric warming of the ocean is implied by differential responses (partial d ecoupling) in the changes recorded in surface and thermoclinal waters.