Fig. 1

Bathymetric map of the study area. The red star symbol is the location of the core MD05-2928. White areas show the regions shallower than 125 m water depth which may be above sea level in glacial periods. The red dashed line is the position of the ITCZ in austral summer. Blue dashed lines and arrows represent the ocean currents. SEC South Equatorial Current, Hiri Hiri current, NGCC New Guinea Coastal Current, ITF Indonesian Throughflow, EUC Equatorial Under Current