Tetraether membrane lipid distributions in water-column particulate matter and sediments: a study of 47 European lakes along a north-south transect

We studied the distribution of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) in water-column particulate matter and the top 5 cm of sediment from 47 lakes along a transect from southern Italy to the northern part of Scandinavia. Our objective was to investigate the biological sources and potential palaeoenvironmental applications of GDGTs in lacustrine sediments. Both archaea-derived isoprenoid and bacteria-derived branched GDGTs, produced by yet unknown soil bacteria, were identified in all lake sediments. GDGT distributions varied substantially. Crenarchaeotal GDGTs, including the characteristic GDGT crenarchaeol, were found in varying relative concentrations, and were more dominant in lakes from the Alps and some of the lakes from the more southern part of the latitudinal transect. In some lakes, we observed high amounts of the GDGT with no cyclopentane moieties relative to crenarchaeol. As methanogenic Euryarchaeota are known to biosynthesise this GDGT predominantly, these Archaea, rather than Crenarchaeota, may be its dominant biological source. In most of the lakes, high amounts of soil-bacteria-derived, branched GDGTs (> 40% of total GDGTs) indicated a substantial contribution from soil erosion. Branched GDGTs dominated, especially in the northern lakes, possibly related to high soil-erosion rates. In many of the lakes, soil input affects the distribution of isoprenoidal GDGTs and prevents the reliable application of the TEX(86) temperature proxy for lake water temperature, which is based on in situ crenarchaeotal GDGTs production. In 9 out of the 47 lakes studied, the TEX(86) temperature proxy could be used reliably. When we compared the TEX(86) correlation with annual and winter lake-surface temperature, respectively, the relationship between TEX(86) and winter temperature was slightly stronger. This may indicate the season in which these GDGT-producing organisms have their peak production.