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https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1467
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1467
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
15 Apr 2025
| 15 Apr 2025
Status: this preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
Reviews and syntheses: Best practices for the application of marine GDGTs as proxy for paleotemperatures: sampling, processing, analyses, interpretation, and archiving protocols
Abstract. Marine glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) are used in various proxies (such as TEX86) to reconstruct past ocean temperatures. Over 20 years of improvements in GDGT sample processing, analytical techniques, data interpretation and our understanding of proxy functioning have led to the collective development of a set of best practices in all these areas. Further, the importance of Open Science in research has increased the emphasis on the systematic documentation of data generation, reporting and archiving processes for optimal reusability of data. In this paper, we provide protocols and best practices for obtaining, interpreting and presenting GDGT data (with a focus on marine GDGTs), from sampling to data archiving. The purpose of this paper is to optimize inter-laboratory comparability of GDGT data, and to ensure published data follows modern open access principles.
How to cite. Bijl, P. K., Sliwinska, K. K., Duncan, B., Huguet, A., Naeher, S., Rattanasriampaipong, R., Sosa-Montes de Oca, C., Auderset, A., Berke, M., Kim, B. S., Davtian, N., Dunkley Jones, T., Eefting, D., Elling, F., O'Connor, L., Pancost, R. D., Peterse, F., Pierrick, F., Rice, A., Sluijs, A., Varma, D., Xiao, W., and Zhang, Y.: Reviews and syntheses: Best practices for the application of marine GDGTs as proxy for paleotemperatures: sampling, processing, analyses, interpretation, and archiving protocols, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1467, 2025.
Competing interests: One of the co-authors, Sebastian Naeher, is associate editor for Biogeosciences
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Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Department of geoenergy and storage, Copenhagen, Denmark
Bella Duncan
Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
Arnaud Huguet
Sorbonne Université, CNRS, EPHE, PSL, UMR METIS, Paris, 75005, France
Sebastian Naeher
GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
Ronnakrit Rattanasriampaipong
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, 80307 USA
Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721 USA
Claudia Sosa-Montes de Oca
Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Earth Sciences, School of Chemistry, The Cabot Institute for the Environment, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Alexandra Auderset
School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom
Melissa Berke
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame IN 46556, USA
Bum Soo Kim
Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
Amentum, JSC Engineering and Technical Support (JETS) Contract, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
Nina Davtian
CEREGE, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Collège de France, Technopôle de l'Arbois, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France
Tom Dunkley Jones
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom
Desmond Eefting
GeoLab, Faculty of Geoscience, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Felix Elling
Leibniz-Laboratory for Radiometric Dating and Isotope Research, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, 24118 Kiel, Germany
Lauren O'Connor
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Richard D. Pancost
Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Earth Sciences, School of Chemistry, The Cabot Institute for the Environment, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Francien Peterse
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Fenies Pierrick
Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, 10617 Taipei, Taiwan
Addison Rice
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Appy Sluijs
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Devika Varma
Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Den Burg, the Netherlands
Wenjie Xiao
Department of Biology, HADAL & Nordcee, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark
Yige Zhang
Guangzhou institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
Short summary
Many academic laboratories worldwide process environmental samples for analysis of membrane lipid molecules of archaea, for the reconstruction of past environmental conditions. However, the sample workup scheme involves many steps, each of which has a risk of contamination or bias, affecting the results. This paper reviews steps involved in sampling, extraction and analysis of lipids, interpretation and archiving of the data. This ensures reproducable, reusable, comparable and consistent data.
Many academic laboratories worldwide process environmental samples for analysis of membrane...