Archaeal Tetraether Lipids as Tracers for Past Marine Environmental Change

@article{elling2026archaeal,
  title = {{Archaeal Tetraether Lipids as Tracers for Past Marine Environmental Change}},
  author = {Felix J. Elling and Gordon N. Inglis and Nina Davtian and Sarah J. Hurley and B. David A. Naafs and Lauren K. O’Connor and Richard David Pancost and Francien Peterse and Ronnakrit Rattanasriampaipong and Addison Rice and Florence Schubotz and Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté and Lars Wörmer and Alexandra Auderset and Kevin W. Becker and Melissa A. Berke and Peter Kristian Bijl and Cindy De Jonge and Liang Fei Dong and Bella Duncan and Tom Dunkley Jones and Pierrick Fenies and Susanne Fietz and Sze Ling Ho and Arnaud Huguet and Carme Huguet and Jérôme Kaiser and Xiao‐Lei Liu and Gesine Mollenhauer and Sebastian Naeher and Ann Pearson and Kasia K. Śliwińska and Appy Sluijs and Claudia Sosa-Montes de Oca and Qian Tian and Jessica E. Tierney and Devika Varma and Wenjie Xiao and Yige Zhang and Xiaoxiao Zhao},
  journal = {Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.1029/2025pa005373},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025pa005373},
  note = {CC BY},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Archaeal Tetraether Lipids as Tracers for Past Marine Environmental Change
AU  - Felix J. Elling
AU  - Gordon N. Inglis
AU  - Nina Davtian
AU  - Sarah J. Hurley
AU  - B. David A. Naafs
AU  - Lauren K. O’Connor
AU  - Richard David Pancost
AU  - Francien Peterse
AU  - Ronnakrit Rattanasriampaipong
AU  - Addison Rice
AU  - Florence Schubotz
AU  - Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté
AU  - Lars Wörmer
AU  - Alexandra Auderset
AU  - Kevin W. Becker
AU  - Melissa A. Berke
AU  - Peter Kristian Bijl
AU  - Cindy De Jonge
AU  - Liang Fei Dong
AU  - Bella Duncan
AU  - Tom Dunkley Jones
AU  - Pierrick Fenies
AU  - Susanne Fietz
AU  - Sze Ling Ho
AU  - Arnaud Huguet
AU  - Carme Huguet
AU  - Jérôme Kaiser
AU  - Xiao‐Lei Liu
AU  - Gesine Mollenhauer
AU  - Sebastian Naeher
AU  - Ann Pearson
AU  - Kasia K. Śliwińska
AU  - Appy Sluijs
AU  - Claudia Sosa-Montes de Oca
AU  - Qian Tian
AU  - Jessica E. Tierney
AU  - Devika Varma
AU  - Wenjie Xiao
AU  - Yige Zhang
AU  - Xiaoxiao Zhao
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/01
JO  - Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology
DO  - 10.1029/2025pa005373
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1029/2025pa005373
AB  - Archaea are single‐celled microorganisms that are abundant in marine environments and play a key role in the carbon and nitrogen cycles. Archaea can biosynthesize a wide variety of isoprenoid membrane lipids, including isoprenoid glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (isoGDGTs). Experimental and empirical evidence demonstrates that the number of cyclopentane moieties in isoGDGTs is related to growth temperature, leading to the formulation and development of the TEX 86 ocean temperature proxy. The TEX 86 proxy has been widely applied to marine sediments spanning the last 190 million years and has revealed unique insights into the evolution of ocean temperatures over diverse timescales. Other indices have been developed using archaeal lipids to reconstruct ecological and biogeochemical processes that operate within the marine realm. However, several knowledge gaps (e.g., depth of export production, non‐temperature controls, application in non‐analogue climates) limit the application of archaeal lipid‐based proxies in modern and ancient marine environments. In this review, we critically assess the utility of archaeal lipids as tracers for (paleo) environmental change, with an emphasis on the TEX 86 paleotemperature proxy.
SN  - 2572-4517
SN  - 2572-4525
ER  -