Community-sourced lower Zanclean [early Pliocene] sea surface temperature (SST) data for PRISM5.1 and PRISM5.2 time slices

This data set collects, from peer-reviewed and openly available research, values of sea surface temperature (SST) that occurred at select sites across the Earth during a brief period of the lower- Zanclean. SST data reported here represent, for each site, an average of SSTs, derived from alkenone analysis. The data collected are centered on two time slices. The PRISM5.1 time slice at 4.474 Ma, and The PRISM5.2 time slice at 4.870 Ma. These time intervals are selected for their similarity to modern insolation distribution at the top of the atmosphere and coincidence with a negative excursion in the benthic oxygen isotope record (Dowsett et al. 2023). Data from three time intervals are provided for each time slice; the slice date +/- 10ky, +/- 20ky and +/- 30ky.