Quantifying the spatial and temporal sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity changes of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool is essential to understand the role of this region in connection with abrupt climate changes particularly during the last deglaciation. In this study we reconstruct SST and seawater δ18O of the tropical eastern Indian Ocean for the past 40,000 years from two sediment cores (GeoB 10029-4, 1°30′S, 100°08′E, and GeoB 10038-4, 5°56′S, 103°15′E) retrieved offshore Sumatra. Our results show that annual mean SSTs increased about 2-3 °C at 19,000 years ago and exhibited southern hemisphere-like timing and pattern during the last deglaciation. Our SST records together with other Mg/Ca-based SST reconstructions around Indonesia do not track the monsoon variation since the last glacial period, as recorded by terrestrial monsoon archives. However, the spatial SST heterogeneity might be a result of changing monsoon intensity that shifts either the annual mean SSTs or the seasonality of G. ruber towards the warmer or the cooler season at different locations. Seawater δ18O reconstructions north of the equator suggest fresher surface conditions during the last glacial and track the northern high-latitude climate change during the last deglaciation. In contrast, seawater δ18O records south of the equator do not show a significant difference between the last glacial period and the Holocene, and lack Bølling-Allerød and Younger Dryas periods suggestive of additional controls on annual mean surface hydrology in this part of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.