Isoprenoid tetraether lipids in suspended particulate matter from the East China Sea and implication for sedimentary records

A total of 90 samples of suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected in surface waters of the East China Sea (ECS) in summer and winter were studied for archaeal isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether lipids (iGDGTs) and the derived sea surface temperature (SST) proxy, i.e. TEX86H. Our data showed that in summer SPM TEX86H correlated well with in-situ measured SST, but in winter the relationship became much poorer. We found that the bottom water depth (BWD) of 70 m was a critical depth when studying the TEX86H-SST relationship in winter SPM. In locations with BWD < 70 m, concentrations of iGDGTs in SPM were > 5x higher in winter than in summer, but TEX86H showed a much weaker correlation with in-situ measured SST. This was speculated to be caused by lateral transport of SPM and resuspension of surface sediments in winter due to strong winds. Whereas in locations with BWD > 70 m, TEX86H correlated well with in-situ measured SST, suggesting a minor influence of SPM lateral transport and sediment resuspension. Moreover, although only core iGDGTs were analyzed, we found that both summer and winter TEX86H values correlated better with in-situ measured SST than with seasonal and annual mean SST, suggesting that SPM iGDGTs were dominantly produced around the sampling time rather than encompassing longer time input. The linear relationships of SPM TEX86H with in-situ measured SST were different between winter (BWD > 70 m) and summer, likely due to seasonal archaeal community change. Published sedimentary TEX86H data in the ECS were reexamined here, and a BWD of 70 m was also found to be a critical depth. At sites with BWD > 70 m, TEX86H in sediments correlated well with annual mean SST, whereas the correlation became poor at BWD < 70 m, suggesting that sedimentary GDGTs were also greatly influenced by resuspension and lateral transport, and hence complicating the application of the proxy to shallow locations in the ECS.