Articles | Volume 23, issue 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-4859-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-4859-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Technical note: Kinetically resolved volatile and redox fingerprints of geologic materials by ramped combustion microchromatography
Shuzhuang Wu
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
State Key Laboratory of Deep-sea Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China
Samuel L. Jaccard
Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Matthieu E. Galvez
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Related authors
Babette A.A. Hoogakker, Catherine Davis, Yi Wang, Stephanie Kusch, Katrina Nilsson-Kerr, Dalton S. Hardisty, Allison Jacobel, Dharma Reyes Macaya, Nicolaas Glock, Sha Ni, Julio Sepúlveda, Abby Ren, Alexandra Auderset, Anya V. Hess, Katrin J. Meissner, Jorge Cardich, Robert Anderson, Christine Barras, Chandranath Basak, Harold J. Bradbury, Inda Brinkmann, Alexis Castillo, Madelyn Cook, Kassandra Costa, Constance Choquel, Paula Diz, Jonas Donnenfield, Felix J. Elling, Zeynep Erdem, Helena L. Filipsson, Sebastián Garrido, Julia Gottschalk, Anjaly Govindankutty Menon, Jeroen Groeneveld, Christian Hallmann, Ingrid Hendy, Rick Hennekam, Wanyi Lu, Jean Lynch-Stieglitz, Lélia Matos, Alfredo Martínez-García, Giulia Molina, Práxedes Muñoz, Simone Moretti, Jennifer Morford, Sophie Nuber, Svetlana Radionovskaya, Morgan Reed Raven, Christopher J. Somes, Anja S. Studer, Kazuyo Tachikawa, Raúl Tapia, Martin Tetard, Tyler Vollmer, Xingchen Wang, Shuzhuang Wu, Yan Zhang, Xin-Yuan Zheng, and Yuxin Zhou
Biogeosciences, 22, 863–957, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-863-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-863-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Paleo-oxygen proxies can extend current records, constrain pre-anthropogenic baselines, provide datasets necessary to test climate models under different boundary conditions, and ultimately understand how ocean oxygenation responds on longer timescales. Here we summarize current proxies used for the reconstruction of Cenozoic seawater oxygen levels. This includes an overview of the proxy's history, how it works, resources required, limitations, and future recommendations.
Amy I. Hsieh, Thierry Adatte, Shraddha Band, Li Lo, Romain Vaucher, Brahimsamba Bomou, Laszlo Kocsis, Pei-Ling Wang, and Samuel Jaccard
Clim. Past, 22, 227–246, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-227-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-227-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Our study of late Miocene–early Pleistocene sedimentary records from the Taiwan Western Foreland Basin and the northern South China Sea found that physical erosion of tropical mountain belts by intense monsoon and tropical cyclone precipitation influences carbon burial by: 1) erosion and burial of organic carbon from land, and 2) supplying nutrients that enhance marine photosynthesis. This work links mountain building and erosion in tropical regions directly to carbon storage in nearby oceans.
Zanna Chase, Karen E. Kohfeld, Amy Leventer, David Lund, Xavier Crosta, Laurie Menviel, Helen C. Bostock, Matthew Chadwick, Samuel L. Jaccard, Jacob Jones, Alice Marzocchi, Katrin J. Meissner, Elisabeth Sikes, Louise C. Sime, and Luke Skinner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3504, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3504, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The impact of recent dramatic declines in Antarctic sea ice on the Earth system are uncertain. We reviewed how sea ice affects ocean circulation, ice sheets, winds, and the carbon cycle by considering theory and modern observations alongside paleo-proxy reconstructions. We found evidence for connections between sea ice and these systems but also conflicting results, which point to missing knowledge. Our work highlights the complex role of sea ice in the Earth system.
Babette A.A. Hoogakker, Catherine Davis, Yi Wang, Stephanie Kusch, Katrina Nilsson-Kerr, Dalton S. Hardisty, Allison Jacobel, Dharma Reyes Macaya, Nicolaas Glock, Sha Ni, Julio Sepúlveda, Abby Ren, Alexandra Auderset, Anya V. Hess, Katrin J. Meissner, Jorge Cardich, Robert Anderson, Christine Barras, Chandranath Basak, Harold J. Bradbury, Inda Brinkmann, Alexis Castillo, Madelyn Cook, Kassandra Costa, Constance Choquel, Paula Diz, Jonas Donnenfield, Felix J. Elling, Zeynep Erdem, Helena L. Filipsson, Sebastián Garrido, Julia Gottschalk, Anjaly Govindankutty Menon, Jeroen Groeneveld, Christian Hallmann, Ingrid Hendy, Rick Hennekam, Wanyi Lu, Jean Lynch-Stieglitz, Lélia Matos, Alfredo Martínez-García, Giulia Molina, Práxedes Muñoz, Simone Moretti, Jennifer Morford, Sophie Nuber, Svetlana Radionovskaya, Morgan Reed Raven, Christopher J. Somes, Anja S. Studer, Kazuyo Tachikawa, Raúl Tapia, Martin Tetard, Tyler Vollmer, Xingchen Wang, Shuzhuang Wu, Yan Zhang, Xin-Yuan Zheng, and Yuxin Zhou
Biogeosciences, 22, 863–957, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-863-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-863-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Paleo-oxygen proxies can extend current records, constrain pre-anthropogenic baselines, provide datasets necessary to test climate models under different boundary conditions, and ultimately understand how ocean oxygenation responds on longer timescales. Here we summarize current proxies used for the reconstruction of Cenozoic seawater oxygen levels. This includes an overview of the proxy's history, how it works, resources required, limitations, and future recommendations.
Helen Eri Amsler, Lena Mareike Thöle, Ingrid Stimac, Walter Geibert, Minoru Ikehara, Gerhard Kuhn, Oliver Esper, and Samuel Laurent Jaccard
Clim. Past, 18, 1797–1813, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1797-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1797-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present sedimentary redox-sensitive trace metal records from five sediment cores retrieved from the SW Indian Ocean. These records are indicative of oxygen-depleted conditions during cold periods and enhanced oxygenation during interstadials. Our results thus suggest that deep-ocean oxygenation changes were mainly controlled by ocean ventilation and that a generally more sluggish circulation contributed to sequestering remineralized carbon away from the atmosphere during glacial periods.
Frerk Pöppelmeier, David J. Janssen, Samuel L. Jaccard, and Thomas F. Stocker
Biogeosciences, 18, 5447–5463, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5447-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5447-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Chromium (Cr) is a redox-sensitive element that holds promise as a tracer of ocean oxygenation and biological activity. We here implemented the oxidation states Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in the Bern3D model to investigate the processes that shape the global Cr distribution. We find a Cr ocean residence time of 5–8 kyr and that the benthic source dominates the tracer budget. Further, regional model–data mismatches suggest strong Cr removal in oxygen minimum zones and a spatially variable benthic source.
Cited articles
Alt, J. C. and Shanks III, W. C.: Stable isotope compositions of serpentinite seamounts in the Mariana forearc: Serpentinization processes, fluid sources and sulfur metasomatism, Earth Planet Sci. Lett., 242, 272–285, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2005.11.063, 2006.
Berg, J. S., Lepine, M., Laymand, E., Han, X., Vogel, H., Morlock, M. A., Gajendra, N., Gilli, A., Bernasconi, S. M., Schubert, C. J., Su, G., and Lever, M. A.: Ancient and Modern Geochemical Signatures in the 13,500-Year Sedimentary Record of Lake Cadagno, Front Earth Sc.-Switz., 9, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.754888, 2022.
Berg, J. S., Rodriguez, P. C., Magnabosco, C., Deng, L., Bernasconi, S. M., Vogel, H., Morlock, M., and Lever, M. A.: Microbial sulfur cycling across a 13 500-year-old lake sediment record, Biogeosciences, 22, 5483–5496, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-5483-2025, 2025.
Boudreau, B. P.: A kinetic model for microbic organic-matter decomposition in marine sediments, FEMS Microbiol. Ecol., 11, 1–14, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6968.1992.tb05789.x, 1992.
Carter, T. L., Schaecher, C., Monteith, S., and Ferguson, R.: Using combustion analysis to simultaneously measure soil organic and inorganic carbon, Geoderma, 451, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2024.117066, 2024.
Cohen-Sadon, H., Amrani, A., Feinstein, S., and Rosenberg, Y. O.: A new empirical approach for rapid quantification of organic and pyritic sulfur in sedimentary rocks using the Rock-Eval 7S, Org. Geochem., 166, 104350, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2021.104350, 2022.
Crezee, B., Dargie, G. C., Ewango, C. E. N., Mitchard, E. T. A., Emba B, O., Kanyama T, J., Bola, P., Ndjango, J.-B. N., Girkin, N. T., Bocko, Y. E., Ifo, S. A., Hubau, W., Seidensticker, D., Batumike, R., Imani, G., Cuní-Sanchez, A., Kiahtipes, C. A., Lebamba, J., Wotzka, H.-P., Bean, H., Baker, T. R., Baird, A. J., Boom, A., Morris, P. J., Page, S. E., Lawson, I. T., and Lewis, S. L.: Mapping peat thickness and carbon stocks of the central Congo Basin using field data, Nat. Geosci., 15, 639–644, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00966-7, 2022.
Dupeyron, J., Pasquier, V., Guibourdenche, L., Busigny, V., Cartigny, P., Jézéquel, D., Bernasconi, S. M., and Carbonne, J. M.: Decadal, sediment-driven sulfur isotope evolution in Lake Cadagno, Geochem. Perspect. Lett., 38, 17–22, https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2550, 2025.
Espitalie, J., Deroo, G., and Marquis, F.: Rock-Eval Pyrolysis and Its Applications (Part Two), Rev. Inst. Fr. Pét., 40, 755–784, https://doi.org/10.2516/ogst:1985045, 1985.
Galvez, M., Wu, S., Garcin, Y., Schefuß, E., Gassier, G., Lebamba, J., Kiahtipes, C., Bokomba, F., Wotzka, H. P., and Adatte, T.: Hydroclimate controls on Congo peatland net oxygen release over the past 10,600 years, Nat. Geosci., https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-026-02031-z, 2026.
Galvez, M. E.: Redox constraints on a Cenozoic imbalance in the organic carbon cycle, Am. J. Sci., 320, 730–751, https://doi.org/10.2475/10.2020.03, 2020.
Galvez, M. E. and Jaccard, S. L.: Redox capacity of rocks and sediments by high temperature chalcometric titration, Chem. Geol., 564, 120016, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2020.120016, 2021.
Galvez, M. E., Fischer, W. W., Jaccard, S. L., and Eglinton, T. I.: Materials and pathways of the organic carbon cycle through time, Nat. Geosci., 13, 535–546, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-020-0563-8, 2020.
Galvez, M. E., Müntener, O. and Jaccard, S. L.: Beyond Oxygen Fugacity: A Compositional Metric to Probe Earth's Redox Structure, Geophys. Res. Lett., 52, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL117642, 2025.
Garcin, Y., Schefuß, E., Dargie, G. C., Hawthorne, D., Lawson, I. T., Sebag, D., Biddulph, G. E., Crezee, B., Bocko, Y. E., Ifo, S. A., Mampouya Wenina, Y. E., Mbemba, M., Ewango, C. E. N., Emba, O., Bola, P., Kanyama Tabu, J., Tyrrell, G., Young, D. M., Gassier, G., Girkin, N. T., Vane, C. H., Adatte, T., Baird, A. J., Boom, A., Gulliver, P., Morris, P. J., Page, S. E., Sjögersten, S., and Lewis, S. L.: Hydroclimatic vulnerability of peat carbon in the central Congo Basin, Nature, 612, 277–282, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05389-3, 2022.
Hayes, J. M. and Waldbauer, J. R.: The carbon cycle and associated redox processes through time, Philos. T. Roy. Soc. B, 361, 931–950, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.1840, 2006.
Hemingway, J. D., Rothman, D. H., Rosengard, S. Z., and Galy, V. V.: Technical note: An inverse method to relate organic carbon reactivity to isotope composition from serial oxidation, Biogeosciences, 14, 5099–5114, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5099-2017, 2017.
Hemingway, J. D., Hilton, R. G., Hovius, N., Eglinton, T. I., Haghipour, N., Wacker, L., Chen, M.-C., and Galy, V. V.: Microbial oxidation of lithospheric organic carbon in rapidly eroding tropical mountain soils, Science, 360, 209–212, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao6463, 2018.
Janssen, D. J., Rickli, J., Wille, M., Sepúlveda Steiner, O., Vogel, H., Dellwig, O., Berg, J. S., Bouffard, D., Lever, M. A., Hassler, C. S., and Jaccard, S. L.: Chromium Cycling in Redox-Stratified Basins Challenges δ 53Cr Paleoredox Proxy Applications, Geophys. Res. Lett., 49, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099154, 2022.
L'Vov, B. V.: Mechanism of thermal decomposition of alkaline-earth carbonates, Thermochim. Acta, 303, 161–170, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-6031(97)00261-X, 1997.
Ordoñez, L., Vogel, H., Sebag, D., Ariztegui, D., Adatte, T., Russell, J. M., Kallmeyer, J., Vuillemin, A., Friese, A., Crowe, S. A., Bauer, K. W., Simister, R., Henny, C., Nomosatryo, S., and Bijaksana, S.: Empowering conventional Rock-Eval pyrolysis for organic matter characterization of the siderite-rich sediments of Lake Towuti (Indonesia) using End-Member Analysis, Org. Geochem., 134, 32–44, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2019.05.002, 2019.
Paytan, A., Kastner, M., Campbell, D., and Thiemens, M. H.: Sulfur Isotopic Composition of Cenozoic Seawater Sulfate, Science, 282, 1459–1462, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.282.5393.1459, 1998.
Salonen, K.: A versatile method for the rapid and accurate determination ofcarbon by high temperature combustion, Limnol. Oceanogr., 24, 177–183, https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1979.24.1.0177, 1979.
Sebag, D., Verrecchia, E. P., Cécillon, L., Adatte, T., Albrecht, R., Aubert, M., Bureau, F., Cailleau, G., Copard, Y., Decaens, T., Disnar, J. R., Hetényi, M., Nyilas, T., and Trombino, L.: Dynamics of soil organic matter based on new Rock-Eval indices, Geoderma, 284, 185–203, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2016.08.025, 2016.
Vyazovkin, S. and Wight, C. A.: Model-free and model-fitting approaches to kinetic analysis of isothermal and nonisothermal data, Thermochim. Acta, 340-341, 53–68, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-6031(99)00253-1, 1999.
Yoon, G., Park, S.-M., Yang, H., Tsang, D. C. W., Alessi, D. S., and Baek, K.: Selection criteria for oxidation method in total organic carbon measurement, Chemosphere, 199, 453–458, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.02.074, 2018.
Zhao, W. Z., Lu, B., Lv, S. N., Zhou, C. F., and Yang, Y.: Simultaneous determination of chlorine and sulfur in geochemical reference samples by wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, New J. Chem., 44, 11224–11230, https://doi.org/10.1039/d0nj02042g, 2020.
Short summary
We present a novel analytical system that simultaneously measures mass loss, heat flow, gas emissions, and oxygen consumption during controlled heating. The method reveals how carbon, oxygen, and sulfur are stored, transformed, and recycled in geological materials. By providing high-resolution insights into thermal reactivity and redox processes, it helps identify hidden environmental changes and offers a powerful new tool for studying biogeochemical cycles and Earth’s environmental evolution.
We present a novel analytical system that simultaneously measures mass loss, heat flow, gas...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint