Re-evaluating modern and Palaeogene GDGT distributions: Implications for SST reconstructions

Modern water column studies show that the [2]/[3] ratios in suspended particulate matter (SPM) increase with depth, suggesting that high [2]/[3] ratios reflect a contribution from Archaea living in the deeper water column. This suggests that export dynamics influence GDGT-derived SST estimates. We argue for new approaches to SST reconstruction: 1) continued use of core-top calibrations, in which export dynamics have been implicitly incorporated into the current core-top calibration datasets, but with the influence of water depth taken into account; and 2) use of SPM or mesocosm-based calibrations, with water depth and palaeo-export dynamics independently assessed.