For over a decade, oceanographers have debated the interpretation and reliability of sediment microfossil records indicating extremely low seawater radiocarbon ( 14 C) during the last deglaciation-observations that suggest a major disruption in marine carbon cycling coincident with rising atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. Possible flaws in these records include poor age model controls, utilization of mixed, infaunal foraminifera species possibly influenced by changing porewater chemistry, and bioturbation. We have addressed these concerns using a glacial-interglacial record of epifaunal benthic foraminifera 14 C on an ideal sedimentary age model (wood calibrated to atmosphere 14 C). Our results affirm – with important caveats – the fidelity of these microfossil archives and confirm previous observations of highly depleted seawater 14 C at intermediate depths in the deglacial northeast Pacific.