D. brouweri and C. pelagicus abundance values show that warm-water conditions prevailed at Site 1115 in the Solomon Sea during most of the early and middle Pliocene. Incursions of cooler surface water at times centered on 4.5 and 3.2 Ma interrupted the long-term warm-water conditions at this site. The "mid-Pliocene warm interval" occurred from 3.1 to 2.8 Ma, followed by a marked decline in surface water temperatures beginning ~2.7 Ma. Cooling continued to the end of the Pliocene, with a brief influx of warmer water appearing at ~2.3 Ma.