Variations in the paleoproductivity during the last 14.4 kyr have been studied using organic carbon (OC), calcium carbonate (CaCO3) contents and their mass accumulation rate and burial efficiency, in a 14C-dated sediment core (SK 313 GC-01; 4.82-m) from the southeastern Arabian Sea. The core was sub-sampled at 1-cm intervals for the top 1 m and 2-cm intervals for the rest of the core. All subsamples were oven-dried at 40°C and finely powdered in an agate mortar with a pestle. CaCO3 content was determined by Ethylene Diamine Tetra-Acetic acid (EDTA) titration using Patton & Reader as an indicator (Shapiro and Brannock, 1962, doi:10.3133/b1144A). The OC content was determined by chromic acid digestion and subsequent titration with ferrous ammonium sulfate as described in Gaudette et al. (1974, doi:10.1306/74D729D7-2B21-11D7-8648000102C1865D). We note that paleoproductivity was the highest during the Bølling–Allerød warm event; a step-wise decreased productivity during the Younger Dryas cold period, the lowest productivity during the early Holocene, and increased and stabilized productivity during the mid-late Holocene interval.

Accumulation rate (MAR) of OC and CaCO3 (g/m²/a) was calculated using the following formula: OC (CaCO3) = (OC (CaCO3)×DBD×LSR)/100.Paleoproductivity (g/cm²/a) was estimated using the following formula by Stein (1986, hdl:10013/epic.14450): Paleoproductivity (PP) = 5.31 [OC (DBD)]0.71× LSR0.07 × WD0.45.Burial efficiency (BE, %) of OC was estimated using the following formula by Bhushan et al. (2001, doi:10.1016/S0025-3227(01)00179-7): BE (%) = [(Burial Flux)/Productivity]×100.