The Maldives Inner Sea (northern Indian Ocean) offers an excellent study site to explore the impact of climate and sea-level changes on carbonate platforms. The sediments from International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1467 have been studied to determine the drivers of carbonate production in the atolls over the last 1.3 million years. Even though sea level is important, the intensity of the summer monsoon and the Indian Ocean dipole probably modulated the production at the atolls.