Abstract. During the last glacial termination, the upper North Pacific Ocean underwent dramatic and rapid changes in oxygenation that lead to the transient intensification of Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs), recorded by the widespread occurrence of laminated sediments on circum-Pacific continental margins. We present a new laminated sediment record from the mid-depth (1100 m) northern Bering Sea margin that provides insight into these deglacial OMZ maxima with exceptional, decadal-scale detail. Combined ultrahigh-resolution micro-XRF data and sediment facies analysis of laminae reveals an alternation between predominantly terrigenous and diatom-dominated opal sedimentation. The diatomaceous laminae are interpreted to represent spring/summer productivity events that occur at the retreating sea ice margin. We identified five laminated sections in the deglacial part of our site. Laminae counts were carried out on these sections and correlated to the Bølling–Allerød and Preboreal phases in North Greenland Ice Core (NGRIP) oxygen isotope record, indicating an annual deposition of individual laminae couplets. The observed rapid intra-decadal intensifications of anoxia, in particular within the Bølling–Allerød, are tightly coupled to short-term warm events through increases in regional biogenic productivity. By correlating the counted laminated sections with Bering Sea Surface Temperature records (SST) and NGRIP δ18O data, we propose a deglacial minimum SST of 6–7 °C for the preservation of laminae, which we call the deglacial temperature threshold for anoxia occurrence, a process that strongly implies a close atmospheric teleconnection between the North Pacific and North Atlantic regions. We suggest that concomitant increases in Bering Sea biogenic productivity, in combination with oxygen-poor waters entering the Being Sea, drove down oxygen concentrations to values below 0.1 mL L-1 and caused laminae preservation. Calculated benthic-planktic ventilation ages show no significant variations throughout the last deglaciation, indicating that changes in formation rates or differing sources of North Pacific mid-depth waters are not prime candidates for strengthening the OMZ at our site. The age models established by our correlation procedure allow to determine calendar age control points for the Bølling–Allerød and the Preboreal that are independent of the initial radiocarbon-based chronology. Resulting calculated reservoir ages are 875 yr during the Bølling–Allerød, and 910–770 yr for the Younger Dryas and the Preboreal, respectively.
Direct ventilation of the North Pacific did not reach the deep ocean during the last deglaciation