(Table 1) Lipid biomarkers in surface sediments from the Gulf of Genoa

DOI

A series of molecular organic markers were determined in surface sediments from the Gulf of Genoa (Ligurian Sea) in order to evaluate their potential for palaeo-environmental reconstructions. Allochthonous input can be characterized by the distributions of n-C29 and n-C31 alkanes, n-C26 and n-C28 alkanols and branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), whose concentrations are generally highest near the river mouths. In the open basin however, terrestrial n-alkanes and n-alkanols may have an additional, aeolian source. Autochthonous input is represented by crenarchaeol and isoprenoid GDGTs. Their concentrations are highest in the open basin showing the preference of Thaumarchaeota for oligotrophic waters. Indications of a significant degradation of sterols and C37 alkenones exclude these lipids as reliable productivity proxies. Using terrestrial and aquatic lipids as end-members allows estimating the percentage of terrestrial organic matter between 20% and 58% in the coastal area decreasing to 1 to 30% in the deep basin. The spatial distribution of sea surface temperature (SST) estimates using the alkenone-based UK'37 index is very similar to the autumnal (November) mean satellite-based SST distribution. Conversely, TEXH86-derived SST estimates are close to winter SSTs in the coastal area and summer SSTs in the open basin. This pattern reflects presumably a shift in the main production of Thaumarchaeota from the coastal area in winter to the open basin in summer. This study represents a major prerequisite for the future application of lipid biomarkers on sediment cores from the Gulf of Genoa.

Supplement to: Kaiser, Jérôme; Ruggieri, Nicoletta; Hefter, Jens; Siegel, Herbert; Mollenhauer, Gesine; Arz, Helge Wolfgang; Lamy, Frank (2014): Lipid biomarkers in surface sediments from the Gulf of Genoa, Ligurian sea (NW Mediterranean sea) and their potential for the reconstruction of palaeo-environments. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 89, 68-83

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.834669
Related Identifier https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2014.04.009
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.834669
Provenance
Creator Kaiser, Jérôme; Ruggieri, Nicoletta; Hefter, Jens ORCID logo; Siegel, Herbert; Mollenhauer, Gesine (ORCID: 0000-0001-5138-564X); Arz, Helge Wolfgang ORCID logo; Lamy, Frank ORCID logo
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2014
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Language English
Resource Type Supplementary Dataset; Dataset
Format text/tab-separated-values
Size 567 data points
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (7.586W, 43.044S, 10.117E, 44.395N); Ligurian Sea, Mediterranean
Temporal Coverage Begin 2011-05-13T08:30:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 2011-05-26T06:00:00Z