A study of the TEX86 paleothermometer in the water column and sediments of the Santa Barbara Basin, California

Particulate organic matter collected during a 2-year period, as part of an ongoing sediment trap study, and a high-resolution sediment record from 1850 to 1987 A.D. from the Santa Barbara Basin were analyzed for TEX86, a temperature proxy based on marine crenarchaeotal membrane lipids. Highest fluxe...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Huguet, Carme|||0000-0001-8025-2010, Schimmelmann, Arndt, Thunell, Robert, Lourens, Lucas J., Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S., Schouten, Stefan
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2007
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:25432
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/25432
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1029/2006PA001310
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Santa Barbara Basin
Paleoclimatology
Marine organic chemistry
Geochemical tracers
Sea surface temperature
Descripción
Sumario:Particulate organic matter collected during a 2-year period, as part of an ongoing sediment trap study, and a high-resolution sediment record from 1850 to 1987 A.D. from the Santa Barbara Basin were analyzed for TEX86, a temperature proxy based on marine crenarchaeotal membrane lipids. Highest fluxes of crenarchaeotal lipids in the water column were found in May-June 1996 and from October 1996 to January 1997 and, in general, showed a good correlation with mass fluxes. TEX86 reconstructed temperatures from the sediment trap series ranged from 8 to 11°C and were usually substantially lower than sea surface temperatures (SST), indicating that unlike in previous studies, the TEX86 corresponds to subsurface temperatures, likely between 100 and 150 m. TEX86 temperature variations observed in trap samples were not coupled to changes in SST or deep-water temperatures and only to some degree with crenarchaeotal lipid fluxes. This suggests that a complex combination of different depth origins and seasonal growth periods of Crenarchaeota contributed to the variations in TEX86 signal during the annual cycle. TEX86 temperatures in the two sediment cores studied (8-13°C) were also substantially lower than those of instrumental SST records (14-17.5°C) confirming that TEX86 records a subsurface temperature signal in the Santa Barbara Basin. This result highlights the importance of performing calibration studies using sediment traps and core tops before applying the TEX86 temperature proxy in a given study area.