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.
Authors
- Yige Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7331-1246)
- Alexandra Auderset (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6316-4980)
- Richard D. Pancost (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0298-4026)
- Tom Dunkley Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9518-8143)
- Pierrick Fenies (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1183-9704)
- Devika Varma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9707-6690)
- Desmond Eefting
- Melissa A. Berke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4810-3773)
- Peter K. Bijl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1710-4012)
- Appy Sluijs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2382-0215)
- Kasia K. Śliwińska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5488-8832)
- Ronnakrit Rattanasriampaipong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1425-8737)
- Sebastian Naeher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5336-6458)
- Gordon N. Inglis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0032-4668)
- Addison Rice (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4507-6717)
- Felix J. Elling (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0405-4033)
- Arnaud Huguet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6124-2922)
- Nina Davtian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3047-6064)
- Wenjie Xiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4734-683X)
- Bella Duncan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1108-6033)
- Claudia Sosa-Montes de (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4451-6458)
- Francien Peterse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8781-2826)
- Bum Soo Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0533-1330)
- Lauren O'Connor
Institutions
- University of Notre Dame (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Arizona (US)
- National Taiwan University (TW)
- University of Southern Denmark (DK)
- Lincoln University (NZ)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (US)
- Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (DK)
- Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (CN)
- Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (DE)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Victoria University of Wellington (NZ)
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
- Centre de Recherche et d’Enseignement de Géosciences de l’Environnement (FR)
- Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NL)
- Milieux environnementaux, transferts et interactions dans les hydrosystèmes et les sols (FR)
- Taipei Institute of Pathology (TW)
- Johnson Space Center (US)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- University of Southampton (GB)
- Métis-Lab (FR)
- University of Birmingham (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Biogeosciences
- Published
- 2025-11-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-6465-2025
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.30