AbstractWhile biogeochemical and physical processes in the Southern Ocean are thought to be central to atmospheric CO₂ rise during the last deglaciation, the role of the equatorial Pacific, where the largest CO₂ source exists at present, remains largely unconstrained. Here we present seawater pH and pCO₂ variations from fossil Porites corals in the mid equatorial Pacific offshore Tahiti based on a newly calibrated boron isotope paleo-pH proxy. Our new data, together with recalibrated existing data, indicate that a significant pCO₂ increase (pH decrease), accompanied by anomalously large marine ¹⁴C reservoir ages, occurred following not only the Younger Dryas, but also Heinrich Stadial 1. These findings indicate an expanded zone of equatorial upwelling and resultant CO₂ emission, which may be derived from higher subsurface dissolved inorganic carbon concentration.