The fractional abundance of branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) including 5-methyl and 6-methyl isomers was analyzed in a selection of seven soils collected by Buckles et al. (2014) from various locations within and around the crater catchment of Lake Chala, a small (4.2 km2), deep (~90 m), and permanently stratified tropical crater lake at ~880 m above sea level in East Africa (3°19'S, 37°42'E). The soils were collected between 25 January and 5 February 2010. The selection covers the four different soil types that have been identified based on cluster analysis using the organic carbon content and the concentration and distribution of brGDGTs in a total of 32 soils (Buckles et al., 2014).