## 5 Discussion
### Sea-Surface Characteristics during the MIS5  
The lightest \(\delta^{18}\)O in _N. pachyderma_ of 1.41% at 125.81 ka is considered the onset of MIS5e in which both _N. inomtpa_ and _G. bulloides_ present the highest values and the concentration of _N. pachyderma_ is \(<\)5% (Figure 6). Throughout the MIS5, two prominent cold events labeled as C24 and C21 [49], in which a minor IRD peak was tied to the latter cold event. [PERSON] et al. [27] identified six cooling events between H11 and C24, including three minor events within C27 (a, b and c) on the eastern subpolar gyre. The authors used the _N. pachyderma, T. quinqueloba_, and _N. inomtpa_ to assess migration of the Polar and Arctic fronts from 102 to 134 ka. The %_N. pachyderma_ at sites Hu90-08 and 984 during MIS5e-c is identical; however, the extent and magnitude of concentration of _T. quinqueloba_ and _N. inomtpa_ vary between 0 and 71% and 0.38 and 45.31%, respectively, at site 984, reflecting a strong influence by the subpolar water mass. In contrast to site 984, the %_T. quinqueloba_ and %_N. inomtpa_ at site Hu90-08 vary between 0.86 and 9.28% and 4.33 and 24.92%, respectively, suggesting a strong influence by the warm and salty NAC. [PERSON] et al. [52] also reported the %_T. quinqueloba_ and %_N. inomtpa_ from 110 and 135 ka at MD03-2664 (Figure 6), in which the millennial-scale variability recorded in the eastern subpolar gyre (at site 984) appears to be subtle or absent. Further, an IRD peak centered at 117 ka in the western subpolar gyre (at MD03-2664) is also absent at sites Hu90-08 and 984, suggesting the regional nature of the 117-ka event. In short, there are heterogeneities between the eastern and western subpolar gyre and intra-western subpolar gyre (i.e., between the SE Grand Banks and eastern Newfoundland Basin) during the MIS5e-c. These differences most likely reflect the extent to which the Labrador Current and NAC injected cold and freshwater versus warm and salty water, respectively, to the subpolar gyre.  
A millennial-scale cooling event at 125 ka (between \(\sim\)126 and 124 ka) within the warmest MIS5e was identified by the %_N. pachyderma_ from 18 to 76%, decrease in %_N. inomtpa_, and %_G. bulloides_ on the Eirik Drift [25, 52]) suggesting the influence by the polar water compared to the subpolar water. The SST was cooled by 3.4 \({}^{\circ}\)C in the Mg/Ca-temperature in _N. pachyderma_ during this event, which could be attributed to ice-rafting-derived meltwater; however, there was no abrupt increase in the IRD associated with this event. [PERSON] et al. [25; 52] also reported a \(\sim\)0.8% decrease in \(\delta^{18}\)O in _N. pachyderma_, which implied to the authors the existence of fresher near-surface conditions. [PERSON] et al. [53] reported lighter benthic foraminiferal \(\delta^{13}\)C during this event and suggested a slowing down of the North Atlantic Deep-Water formation. This cooling event appears to be absent in core Hu90-08, which might be due to the coarse data resolution, or the cooling event was minimized by the interference of the warm NAC inflow, consistent with the absence of cooling signature in core 37 JPC (Figure 6). A minor dip in the \(\delta^{18}\)O in core Hu90-08 could be correlative to that cooling event; however, we refrained from interpreting this single datum any further.