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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-5429</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>A Paleoclimate Proxy from Ammonite Suture Line Complexity</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Guarnieri</surname>
<given-names>Pierpaolo</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7509-0050</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Alsen</surname>
<given-names>Peter</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Mutterlose</surname>
<given-names>Jörg</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Jensen</surname>
<given-names>Kaare H.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Institute of Geosciences, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, Fysikvej, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>29</day>
<month>09</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>17</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Pierpaolo Guarnieri et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5429/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5429/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5429/egusphere-2026-5429.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5429/egusphere-2026-5429.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>&lt;span&gt;Changes in atmospheric composition, driven by fluctuating concentrations of greenhouse gases, are the primary driver of climate change, alongside variations in oceanic circulation. Reconstructions of temperature and climate over geological timescales rely on qualitative and quantitative proxies preserved in the geological record. Sedimentary deposits such as coal, evaporites, bauxites, and tillites, although they represent specific climatic regimes, have low temporal resolution. By contrast, quantitative geochemical proxies such as &amp;delta;18O or &amp;delta;13C, clumped-isotope thermometry, TEX86, and Sclerochronology offer higher temporal resolution. However, these proxies have limitations, reflecting, in some cases, local post-depositional variation or alteration, indicating a need to integrate proxy methods to establish reliable and robust paleoclimate reconstructions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In this paper, we present a new qualitative method for reconstructing temperature, based on the fractal dimension of ammonite suture lines, which can integrate with and support well-established paleoclimate proxies. Suture lines mark the contact between the septum, formed by the organism, and its shell. The linear pattern of fossil sutures exhibits a fractal dimension and resembles viscous fingering&amp;mdash;a process that depends on fluid viscosity. Based on the fractal dimension of c. 450 taxa of Cretaceous ammonite sutures (143&amp;ndash;66 million years ago), we present a fractal dimension curve that serves as a qualitative proxy for seawater viscosity and inversely correlates with seawater temperature. The curve reveals warm and cold snaps associated with geological events that may have triggered climate changes during the Cretaceous, such as Large Igneous Provinces, seafloor production, mid-ocean ridge length, and Oceanic Anoxic Events.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="17"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Nationale Geologiske Undersøgelser for Danmark og Grønland</funding-source>
<award-id>481163101</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
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