This dataset contains trace metal/Ca and abundance data acquired on the planktic foraminifer Globorotaloides hexagonus from the east equatorial Pacific. Samples were used from Ocean Drilling Program Site 202-1241 and reported both against age and composite depth scale. The samples cover two time intervals just before and after the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation, Marine Isotope Stages 96-100 and M2. G. hexagonus is used as indicator species for the Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ). Accordingly, its abundance and trace metal content, Mg/Ca, Mn/Ca and Sr/Ca, may be indicative of changes in the intensity of the OMZ in the past. Abundance counts were based on a total number of foraminifer specimens of ~1000 due to the overall rarity of G. hexagonus. Trace metal/Ca was cleaned following standard cleaned protocols and analysed by ICP-OES.

Some G. hexagonus relative abundance values are based on the average of duplicate samples, therefore the reported G. hexagonus / Total forams might not correlate with the abundance value.Trace metal/Ca were measured at the Department of Earth Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan (R.O.C.).