The data presented derive from sediment core MD99-2203, collected in 1999 off Cape Hatteras as part of the IMAGES project. The 41-m-long sedimentary sequence was retrieved during leg MD114 by the R/V Marion Dufresne, equipped with a Giant Calypso corer. The primary objective was to document paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic changes at 35°N in the southwestern North Atlantic, at the boundary between subtropical and subpolar gyre influences, over the past 50,000 years.We present planktonic foraminifera percentages of main ecological groups to reconstruct oceanic conditions, particularly sea surface temperatures (SSTs), during the interval 26–50 ka, which includes Heinrich Stadials 3, 4, and 5. These datasets are directly compared with pollen data obtained from the same sample set. The analysis of planktonic foraminiferal assemblages was generally conducted at 10 cm intervals on the sand-size fraction (>150 µm). Approximately 300 foraminiferal specimens were counted per level using an Olympus SZH10 binocular microscope after splitting with an Otto microsplitter.