Ultrahigh resolution records of carbonate and organic carbon concentrations from core MD972148 (19°47.804'N 117°32.56'E; water depth 2830m) provide information on glacial-interglacial as well as millennial to centennial scale variability in the production of biogenic sediments in the northern slope of the South China Sea (SCS) over the past 150,000 years. A preliminary age model of this record is estimated using a biostratigraphic datum of Globigerinoides rubber (pink) and the relationship of carbonate concentrations and ∂¹⁸O of planktonic foraminifers shown that the carbonate concentration maxima correspond to interglacial times and minima correspond to glacials, indicating effects of dilution of terrengious clastic sediments from nearby continents. Exposure of extensive continental shelf and relatively dry climate during glacial periods are responsible for the enhanced input of terrengious components into the SCS. Two long-term trends in which the organic carbon concentration records. These rapid concentration changes can be attributed possibly to highly-unstable climatic conditions in the SCS during the late Quaternary.