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As the main heat and water mass sources, the warm and saline Pacific waters have significant influence on sea ice and intermediate water circulation in the Sea of Okhotsk (SO). However, the long-term history of Pacific warm water intrusion into the SO remains unknown, impeding accurate predictions of its future changes. In this study, provenance proxies (clay mineral assemblages and trace element ratios (<2 μm)) from surface sediments and Site LV87-55-1 were used to investigate the history of Pacific water intrusion into the SO over the past 20 kyr. Provenance analysis indicates that sediments in the central SO primarily originated from the Amur River before 11.7 ka, with a significant rise in sediment input from the Kamchatka Peninsula since that time. By integrating published data on sediment grain size, sea surface temperature (SST), and sea-ice diatoms, we observed that the enhanced inflow of Pacific warm water into the SO led to intensified counterclockwise surface currents and the retreat of sea ice since the early Holocene, which subsequently resulted in a noticeable shift in sediment sources in the central SO. Furthermore, based on modern observation and TraCE-21 model simulations, we deduce that the intensified Aleutian Low (AL) since the early Holocene stimulated the East Kamchatka Current (EKC) through increased Sverdrup transport caused by cyclonic wind patterns. This, in turn, facilitated greater intrusion of Pacific warm water into the SO. Overall, our findings suggest an increase in Pacific warm water intrusion into the SO under future global warming scenarios, potentially posing a significant threat to the marine environment of both the SO and the subarctic Pacific. • Provenance records indicate enhanced intrusion of Pacific water into the SO since 11.7 ka. • Increased warm water intrusion results from enhanced Aleutian Low since 11.7 ka. • Future warming climate would stimulate more Pacific water intrusion into the SO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paleoclimate data from the Okhotsk Sea (OS) over Terminations II and I (TII, TI), and the Last and Present Interglacial (LIG, PIG) periods were compiled in order to examine Northern Hemisphere climate and sea level changes. Based on records of four AMS 14 C-dated OS cores over TI-PIG, it is argued that the OS productivity/climate, IRD (ice-rafted debris), and benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotope (δ 18 O bf ) proxies provide representative and in-phase evidence of the Northern Hemisphere climate and continental ice sheet changes consistent with the LR 04 δ 18 O bf curve. Chronologies for two central OS cores over TII-LIG-cooling event 23 (C23) were constructed by correlating OS productivity proxies with well-dated δ 18 O records of Chinese speleothems because OS environment is modulated by East Asian Monsoon; and, as well as correlating measured magnetic paleointensity excursions with those in the dated PISO-1500 paleointensity stack. Results show several OS climatic and environment states, including TII coeval with Asian Weak Monsoon Interval (WMI) II since 136 ka, LIG with a sharp two-step transition (130.2–129 ka) and demise at С25 (116.5 ka), and last glaciation with coolings at C24 (111 ka) and C23. The OS productivity and IRD records demonstrate certain climate amelioration in the middle of WMI-II, and two insignificant cooling events inside the LIG marked by C27 (126 ka) and C26 (120.6 ka). OS δ 18 O bf records of both cores demonstrate a gradual trend of lighter values since around 131.5 ka BP, continuing from the onset of LIG (129 ka) to minimum values at 126 ka BP (C27), then nearly constant values until 121.5 ka, followed by a slight increase up to 120.6 ka (C26), and a subsequent strong increase up to 116.5 ka (C25). The magnitude of OS δ 18 O bf oscillations is 1.35‰, which is less than those in the N. Atlantic. It may therefore be suggested that this OS index probably tracks changes in continental ice sheet volume and sea level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]