Tracing tetraether lipids in the Rhône River system

In this study, we investigated soils and river suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected in the Rhône and its tributary basins as well as marine surface sediments taken in the Rhône prodelta (Gulf of Lions, NW Mediterranean). Thereby, we traced the signal of branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) from the source to sink via the Rhône River and its tributaries and identified sources of brGDGTs in rivers and marine sediments. Soil pH rather than the mean annual air temperature (MAAT) explains most of the observed variances of the brGDGT distribution in our soil dataset. The... Mehr ...