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We summarize the applications of molecular proxies in paleoclimatology. Marine molecular records especially are proving to be of value but certain environmentally persistent compounds can also be measured in lake sediments, loess deposits and ice cores. The fundamentals of this approach are the molecular parameters, the compound abundances and carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen isotopic contents which can be derived by the analysis of sediment extracts. These afford proxy measures which can be interpreted in terms of the conditions which control climate and also reflect its operation. We discuss two types of proxy; those of terrigenous and those of aquatic origin, and exemplify their application in the study of marine sediments through the medium of ten case studies based in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific Oceans, and in Antarctica. The studies are mainly for periods in the present, the Holocene and particularly the last glacial/interglacial, but they also include one study from the Cretaceous. The terrigenous proxies, which are measures of continental vegetation, are based on higher plant leaf wax compounds, i.e. long-chain (circa C30) hydrocarbons, alcohols and acids. They register the relative contributions of C3 vs. C4 type plants to the vegetation in the source areas. The two marine proxies are measures of sea surface temperatures (SST). The longer established one, (U37K′) is based on the relative abundances of C37 alkenones photosynthesized by unicellular algae, members of the Haptophyta. The newest proxy (TEX86) is based on C86 glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) synthesized in the water column by some of the archaeal microbiota, the Crenarchaeota. |
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