A submillennial resolution, radiolarian-based record of summer sea surface temperature (SST) documents the last five glacial to interglacial transitions at the subtropical front, southern Atlantic Ocean. Rapid fluctuations occur both during glacial and interglacial intervals, and sudden cooling episodes at glacial terminations are recurrent. Surface hydrography and global ice volume proxies from the same core suggest that summer SST increases prior to terminations lead global ice-volume decreases by 4.7+ or -3.7 ka (in the eccentricity band), 6.9+ or -2.5 ka (obliquity), and 2.7+ or -0.9 ka (precession). A comparison between SST and benthic delta (sub 13) C suggests a decoupling in the response of northern subantarctic surface, intermediate, and deep water masses to cold events in the North Atlantic. (mod. journ. abst.)