Pleistocene climates in the atlantic and pacific oceans: a reevaluated comparison based on deep-sea sediments.

Variations of the Globorotalia menardii complex in cores from the Indian Ocean can be interpreted as indicating climatic changes that are opposite to trends exhibited by the total planktonic fauna. The questionable value of correlations between different water masses based on a single species can be shown by Neogloboquadrina dutertrei subcretacea in cores obtained off the coast of California and Baja California. This information, in addition to previous correlations between Quaternary cores of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, indicates that the Pleistocene history of the two oceans was parallel.