A planktonic and benthic foraminiferal stable isotope stratigraphy of the Oligocene equatorial Pacific (Ocean Drilling Program, Site 1218) was generated at 6 kyr resolution between magnetochrons C9n and C11n.2n. Our data allow a detailed examination of Oligocene paleoceanography, the evolution of the early cryosphere, and the influence of orbital forcing on glacioeustatic sea level variations. Spectral analysis reveals power and coherency for obliquity (40 kyr period) and eccentricity (110, 405 kyr) orbital bands, with an additional strong imprint of the eccentricity and 1.2 Myr obliquity amplitude cycle, driving ice sheet oscillations in the Southern Hemisphere. Planktonic and benthic foraminifera delta (super 18) O are used to constrain the magnitude and timing of major fluctuations in ice volume and global sea level change. Alteration of high-latitude temperatures and Antarctic ice volume had a significant impact on the global carbon burial and equatorial productivity, as cyclic variations are also recorded in the carbon isotope signal of planktonic and benthic foraminifera, the water column carbon isotope gradient, and estimated percent carbonate of bulk sediment. (mod. journ. abstr.)