Examining the provenance of branched GDGTs in the Tagus River drainage basin
and its outflow into the Atlantic Ocean over the Holocene to determine their
usefulness for paleoclimate applications
Lisa Warden1,Jung-Hyun Kim1,a,Claudia Zell1,b,Geert-Jan Vis2,Henko de Stigter3,Jérôme Bonnin4,and Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté1,5Lisa Warden et al.Lisa Warden1,Jung-Hyun Kim1,a,Claudia Zell1,b,Geert-Jan Vis2,Henko de Stigter3,Jérôme Bonnin4,and Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté1,5
1NIOZ Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry,
and Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, the Netherlands
2TNO, Geological Survey of the Netherlands, P.O. Box 80015, 3508 TA Utrecht, the Netherlands
3NIOZ Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Ocean Systems Sciences, and Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59,
1790 AB Den Burg, the Netherlands
4UMR-EPOC5805 CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy St
Hilaire, 33615 Pessac, France
5Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences, Department of Earth Sciences, P.O. Box 80021, 3508 TA Utrecht, the Netherlands
apresent address: Korea Polar Research Institute, 26 Songdomirae-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 21990, South Korea
bpresent address: Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris 6, METIS, UMR7619, France
1NIOZ Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry,
and Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, the Netherlands
2TNO, Geological Survey of the Netherlands, P.O. Box 80015, 3508 TA Utrecht, the Netherlands
3NIOZ Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Ocean Systems Sciences, and Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59,
1790 AB Den Burg, the Netherlands
4UMR-EPOC5805 CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy St
Hilaire, 33615 Pessac, France
5Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences, Department of Earth Sciences, P.O. Box 80021, 3508 TA Utrecht, the Netherlands
apresent address: Korea Polar Research Institute, 26 Songdomirae-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 21990, South Korea
bpresent address: Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris 6, METIS, UMR7619, France
Abstract. The distributions of branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs), which are transported from the soils where they are predominantly produced to marine sediments via rivers, have been applied in reconstructing mean annual air temperature (MAT) and pH of soils. However, paleoclimate reconstructions using sedimentary brGDGTs have proven difficult in arid regions, including the Iberian Peninsula. Recently, six novel 6-methyl brGDGTs have been described using new analytical methods (in addition to the nine 5-methyl brGDGTs previously used for climate reconstructions), and so new pH and MAT calibrations have been developed that were shown to improve the accuracy of reconstructions in a set of global soil samples, especially in arid regions. Because of this we decided to apply the new method to separate the 5- and 6-methyl isomers along with the novel calibrations to a sample set from the Iberian Peninsula to determine whether it improves paleoclimate reconstructions in this area. This set includes samples that run in a transect from source to sink along the Tagus River and out to the deep ocean off the Portuguese margin spanning the last 6000 years. We found that although pH reconstructions in the soils were improved using the new calibration, MAT reconstructions were not much better even with the separation of the 5- and 6-methyl brGDGTs. This confirmed the conclusion of previous studies that the amount of aquatically produced brGDGTs is overwhelming the soil-derived ones in marine sediments and complicating MAT reconstructions in the region. Additionally, the new separation revealed a strong and until now unseen relationship between the new degree of cyclization (DC') of the brGDGTs and MAT that could be making temperature reconstructions in this and other arid regions difficult.
Enhanced analytical techniques were applied to characterize fossilized microbial cell membrane lipids from samples in the Tagus River basin spanning the last 6000 years. Using the novel methods and calibration, the pH estimates were improved upon, and this study reveals new factors that should be considered when using this proxy as well as affirms the importance of examining the provenance of these lipids before applying them for paleoclimate reconstructions.
Enhanced analytical techniques were applied to characterize fossilized microbial cell membrane...