Biomarker proxies on ODP Holes 151-912A and 151-912B

• Main Authors: Stein, Ruediger, Fahl, Kirsten
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2013
• Subjects: (9E)-2,6,10,14-Tetramethyl-7-(3-methylpent-4-enyliden)pentadeca-9-ene; per unit mass total organic carbon; (9Z)-2,6,10,14-Tetramethyl-7-(3-methylpent-4-enyliden)pentadeca-9-ene; 151-912A; 151-912B; 2,10,14-Trimethyl-6-enyl-7-(3-methylpent-1-enyl)pentadecene; 2,6,10,14-Tetramethyl-7-(3-methylpent-4-enyl)pentadecane; 24-ethylcholest-5-en-3beta-ol; 24-Methylcholesta-5,22E-dien-3beta-ol; AWI_Paleo; Calculated; Carbon; organic; total; DEPTH; sediment/rock; DRILL; Drilling/drill rig; Element analyser CHN; LECO; Event label; Gas chromatography; Gas chromatography - Mass spectrometry (GC-MS); Joides Resolution; Leg151; Long-chain n-alkanes; C27+C29+C31; North Greenland Sea; Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions from Marine Sediments @ AWI; Phytoplankton biomarker Brassicasterol IP25 index; Sample code/label; Arctic; Fram Strait; Greenland; Greenland Sea; North Greenland; Phytoplankton; Sea ice; Yermak plateau
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.803128; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.803128

A novel and promising biomarker proxy for reconstruction of Arctic sea ice conditions was developed and is based on the determination of a highly branched isoprenoid with 25 carbons (IP25). IP25 records have been restricted to the last 150 kyr BP. We present a biomarker record from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 912, going back to the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary and indicating that sea ice of variable extent occurred in the Fram Strait/southern Yermak Plateau area at least since about 2.2 Ma. Furthermore, our data support the idea that a combination of IP25 and open water, phytoplankton biomarker data (“PIP25 index”) may give a more reliable and quantitative estimate of past sea ice cover (at least for the study area). The study reveals that the novel IP25/PIP25 biomarker approach has potential for semi-quantitative paleo-sea ice studies covering the entire Quaternary and could motivate further detailed high resolution research on ODP/IODP material using this proxy.