The evolution of the equatorial thermocline and the early Pliocene El Padre mean state

The tropical Pacific thermocline strength, depth, and tilt are critical to tropical mean state and variability. During the early Pliocene (~3.5 to 4.5 Ma), the Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP) thermocline was deeper and the cold tongue was warmer than today, which resulted in a mean state with a reduced zonal sea surface temperature gradient or El Padre . However, it is unclear whether the deep thermocline was a local feature of the EEP or a basin‐wide condition with global implications. Our measurements of Mg/Ca of Globorotalia tumida in a western equatorial Pacific site indicate Pliocene subsurface temperatures warmer than today; thus, El Padre included a basin‐wide thermocline that was relatively warm, deep, and weakly tilted. At ~4 Ma, thermocline steepening was coupled to cooling of the cold tongue. Since ~4 Ma, the basin‐wide thermocline cooled/shoaled gradually, with implications for thermocline feedbacks in tropical dynamics and the interpretation of TEX 86 ‐derived temperatures.