Last interglacial sea-surface temperature estimates from the California margin; improvements to the modern analog technique

Total faunal analyses of planktic foraminifer assemblages are used to derive sea surface temperature estimates for the last interglacial from Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1018 and 1020 off northern and central California. Foraminifer assemblage data were transformed to sea-surface temperature (SST) estimates by using the modern analog technique (MAT). In order to improve our ability to estimate SST in this area, the coretop calibration data base used in the MAT was augmented by 13 new age-validated coretop assemblages from the U.S. Pacific Margin.