Carbonate contents decrease along the California margin transect to the north. At Site 1012, carbonate contents vary between 2 and 69 wt% and increase with depth with strong fluctuations (Fig. 1; Table 1). Similar CaCO3 percentages at Site 1013 (Fig. 2; Table 2) range from 2 to 61 wt% and show a decrease towards shallower depth. Sediments from the dedicated core from Hole 1017E contain 2-16 wt% carbonate (Table 3). Remarkably smooth variations characterize the uppermost 180 cm, culminating in a maximum of 15.8 wt% at 220 cm. Concentrations vary between 2.3 and 10.8 wt% in the deeper part of the core (Fig. 3). At the northernmost Site 1019, CaCO3 percentages are extremely low and vary from 0.1 to 8.8 wt%. Distinct changes of intervals characterized by very low or elevated carbonate contents occur throughout the core (Fig. 4; Table 4).
The reconstructed sea-surface temperatures at Site 1017 vary from 14.6° to 16.2°C in the uppermost 170 cm, show a distinct maximum of 16.8°C at 200 cm, and decrease to 12.5°-14.0°C below 220 cm (Fig. 5; Table 5).