Francien Peterse

Utrecht University | UU · Department of Earth Sciences

Glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), both archaeal isoprenoid GDGTs (isoGDGTs) and bacterial branched GDGTs (brGDGTs), have been used in paleoclimate studies to reconstruct environmental conditions. Since GDGTs are produced in many types of environments, their relative abundances also depend on the depositional setting. This suggests that...

Anthropogenic climate change is predicted to severely impact the global hydrological cycle¹, particularly in tropical regions where agriculture-based economies depend on monsoon rainfall². In the Horn of Africa, more frequent drought conditions in recent decades3,4 contrast with climate models projecting precipitation to increase with rising temper...

High-resolution paleoclimate records from tropical continental settings are greatly needed to advance understanding of global climate dynamics. The International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) project DeepCHALLA recovered a 214.8-meter long sediment sequence from Lake Chala, a deep and permanently stratified (meromictic) crater lake...

Past East Asian Monsoon variability has been reconstructed using oxygen isotopes of cave speleothems as well as proxy indicators from Chinese loess sequences. However, where the speleothem record is dominated by precession cycles, loess magnetic susceptibility primarily shows a glacial-interglacial pattern. Here we generate a ~ 130,000 years high r...

Numerous proxy reconstructions have provided general insight into late Quaternary East Asian Monsoon variability. However, challenges persist in precisely assessing absolute temperature impacts on proxy variations. Here, we use two independent paleothermometers, based on bacterial membrane lipids and clumped isotopes of snail shells, in the same se...

Variations in the oxygen isotope composition (δ18O) of cave speleothems and numerous proxy records from loess-paleosol sequences have revealed past variations in East Asian monsoon (EAM) intensity. However, challenges persist in reconstructing precipitation changes quantitatively. Here, we use the positive relationship between the degree of cycliza...

High-resolution paleoclimate records from tropical continental settings are greatly needed to advance understanding of global climate dynamics. The International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) project DeepCHALLA recovered a 214.8 m long sediment sequence from Lake Chala, a deep and permanently stratified (meromictic) crater lake in...

Climate variability is typically amplified towards polar regions. The underlying causes, notably albedo and humidity changes, are challenging to accurately quantify with observations or models, thus hampering projections of future polar amplification. Polar amplification reconstructions from the ice-free early Eocene (∼56–48 Ma) can exclude ice alb...

Studying monsoon dynamics during past warm time periods such as the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO; ∼16.9–14.5 Ma) could greatly aid in better projecting monsoon intensity, in the context of future greenhouse warming. However, studies on regional MCO temperature change and its effect on the monsoons during this time period are lacking. Here, we pres...

Anthropogenically-driven climate warming and land use change are the main causes of an ongoing decrease in global biodiversity. It is unclear how ecosystems, particularly freshwater habitats, will respond to such continuous and potentially intensifying disruptions. Here we analyse how different components of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems respo...

The Late Pleistocene MIS5-MIS4 transition (ca. 80-70 ka) is globally known to correspond to a major cooling event accompanied by a large decline in eustatic sea level. This transition must have radically changed coastal landscapes worldwide, affecting basin shape, salinity regimes, river courses, as well as biota. Most existing records are from eit...

A series of transient global warming events (“hyperthermals”) in the early Eocene is marked by massive environmental and carbon cycle change. Among these events, the impacts of the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (~56 Ma), Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (~54 Ma) and Eocene Thermal Maximum 3 (~53 Ma) are relatively well documented, but much less is known...

We explore the imprint of orbital variability on Arctic temperature and hydrology using sediments recovered during the Arctic Coring Expedition in 2004. High resolution records of lipid biomarkers (GDGTs; 2-kyr) and palynological assemblages (5-kyr) in the ~4 m interval below Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (~54 Ma) show highly cyclic signals related to ~...

Both marine dinoflagellate cysts and terrestrially derived pollen and spores are abundant in coastal sediments close to river mouths, making sediment records from such settings ideal to simultaneously study land–ocean climate interactions, marine productivity patterns and freshwater input over time. However, few studies consider the combined calibr...

At present, a strong latitudinal sea-surface-temperature (SST) gradient of ∼ 16 ◦C exists across the Southern Ocean, maintained by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and a set of complex frontal systems. Together with the Antarctic ice masses, this system has formed one of the most important global climate regulators. The timing of the onset o...

Studying West African Monsoon (WAM) dynamics during past warm time periods such as the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO; ~16.9 – 14.5 Ma) could greatly aid in better projecting monsoon intensity, in the context of future greenhouse warming. However, studies on regional MCO temperature change and its effect on the WAM system during this time period are...

Climate variability is typically amplified towards polar regions. The underlying causes, notably albedo and humidity changes, are challenging to accurately quantify with observations or models, hampering projections of future polar amplification. Polar amplification reconstructions from the ice-free early Eocene (~56–48 million years ago) can exclu...

Rationale Embedding resins are widely used to fix carbonates for high‐precision sample preparation and high‐resolution sampling. However, these embedding materials are difficult to remove after sample preparation and are known to affect the accuracy of carbonate stable isotope analyses. Nevertheless, their impact on clumped isotope analysis, which...

The Neogene (23.04–2.58 Ma) is characterised by progressive buildup of ice volume and climate cooling in the Antarctic and the Northern Hemisphere. Heat and moisture delivery to Antarctica is, to a large extent, regulated by the strength of meridional temperature gradients. However, the evolution of the Southern Ocean frontal systems remains scarce...

To assess zonal temperature and biogeographical patterns in the Southern Ocean during the Paleogene, we present new multi‐proxy air‐ and sea‐surface temperature data for the latest Paleocene (∼57–56 Ma) and the Paleocene‐Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ∼56 Ma) from the northern margin of the Australo‐Antarctic Gulf (AAG). The various proxy data sets...

At present, a strong latitudinal sea surface temperature (SST) gradient of ~16 °C exists across the Southern Ocean, maintained by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and a set of complex frontal systems. Together with the Antarctic ice masses, this system has formed one of the most important global climate regulators. The timing of the onset of...

Rivers play a key role in the global carbon cycle by transporting terrestrial organic matter (TerrOM) from land to the ocean. Upon burial in marine sediments, this TerrOM may be a significant long-term carbon sink, depending on its composition and properties. However, much remains unknown about the dispersal of different types of TerrOM in the mari...

Quantitative reconstructions of hydrological change during ancient greenhouse warming events provide valuable insight into warmer-than-modern hydrological cycles but are limited by paleoclimate proxy uncertainties. We present sea surface temperature (SST) records and seawater oxygen isotope (δ18Osw) estimates for the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum...

Glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), including both the archaeal isoprenoid GDGTs (isoGDGTs) and the bacterial branched GDGTs (brGDGTs), have been used in paleoclimate studies to reconstruct temperature in marine and terrestrial archives. However, GDGTs are present in many different types of environments, with relative abundances that str...

The scarcity of suitable high-resolution archives, such as ancient natural lakes, that span beyond the Holocene, hinders long-term late Quaternary temperature reconstructions in southern Africa. Here we target two cores from Mfabeni Peatland, one of the few long continuous terrestrial archives in South Africa that reaches into the Pleistocene, to g...

Large Oligocene Antarctic ice sheets co-existed with warm proximal waters offshore Wilkes Land. Here we provide a broader Southern Ocean perspective to such warmth by reconstructing the strength and variability of the Oligocene Australian-Antarctic latitudinal sea surface temperature gradient. Our Oligocene TEX 86 -based sea surface temperature rec...

The Neogene (23.04–2.58 Ma) is characterized by progressive buildup of Antarctic and Northern Hemisphere ice volume and climate cooling. Heat/moisture delivery to Antarctica is to a large extent regulated by the strength of meridional temperature gradients. However, the evolution of the Southern Ocean frontal systems remains scarcely studied in the...

Rivers play a key role in the global carbon cycle by transporting terrestrial organic matter (TerrOM) from land to the ocean. Upon burial in marine sediments, this TerrOM may be a significant long-term carbon sink, depending on its composition and properties. However, much remains unknown about the dispersal of different types of TerrOM in the mari...

The large difference in the fractionation of stable carbon isotopes between C3 and C4 plants is widely used in vegetation reconstructions, where the predominance of C3 plants suggests wetter and that of C4 plants drier conditions. The stable carbon isotopic composition of organic carbon (OC) preserved in soils or sediments may be a valuable (paleo-...

The middle Eocene climatic optimum (ca. 40 Ma) stands out as a transient global warming phase of ∼400 k.y. duration that interrupted long-term Eocene cooling; it has been associated with a rise in atmospheric CO2 concentrations that has been linked to a flare-up in Arabia-Eurasia continental arc volcanism. Increased organic carbon burial in the Tet...

Monsoonal rivers play an important role in the land-to-sea transport of soil-derived organic carbon (OC). However, spatial and temporal variation in the concentration, composition, and fate of this OC in these rivers remains poorly understood. We investigate soil-to-sea transport of soil OC by the Godavari River in India using glycerol dialkyl glyc...

TEX86 is a paleothermometer based on Thaumarcheotal glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids and is one of the most frequently used proxies for sea-surface temperature (SST) in warmer-than-present climates. However, GDGTs are not exclusively produced in and exported from the mixed layer, so sedimentary GDGTs may contain a depth-integrated...

The strength of the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) and associated moisture availability have been linked to the spatial distribution of occurrence of C3 and C4 vegetation on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). Variations in the stable carbon isotopic composition of organic matter in loess-paleosol sequences from several locations on the CLP indicate...

The North Atlantic region experienced abrupt high-amplitude cooling at the onset of the Younger Dryas stadial. However, due to chronological uncertainties in the available terrestrial records it is unclear whether terrestrial ecosystem response to this event was instantaneous and spatially synchronous, or whether regional or time-transgressive lags...

Monsoonal rivers play an important role in the land-to-sea transport of soil-derived organic carbon (OC). However, spatial and temporal variation in the concentration, composition, and fate of OC in these rivers remains poorly understood. We investigate soil-to-sea transport of OC by the Godavari River in India using branched glycerol dialkyl glyce...

Large Oligocene Antarctic ice sheets co-existed with warm adjacent ocean waters. To provide a broad Southern Ocean perspective to such warmth, we reconstruct the strength and variability of the Oligocene Australian-Antarctic latitudinal sea surface temperature (SST) gradient. Our Oligocene TEX86-based SST record from offshore southern Australia sho...

The large difference in the fractionation of stable carbon isotopes between C3 and C4 plants is widely used in vegetation reconstructions, where the predominance of C3 plants suggests wetter and that of C4 plants drier conditions. The isotopic composition of organic carbon (OC) preserved in soils or sediments may be a valuable (paleo-)environmental...

Branched glycerol monoalkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGMGTs) are a group of membrane-spanning lipids produced by (yet) unidentified bacteria. They are characterized by a C-C bond connecting the two alkyl chains, which is thought to enhance membrane stability at higher temperatures. So far, they have been found in peats, lakes, and marine sediments, w...

Some lipid‐biomarker‐based sea surface temperature (SST) proxies applied in the modern Mediterranean Sea exhibit large offsets from expected values, generating uncertainties in climate reconstructions. Lateral transport of proxy carriers along ocean currents prior to burial can contribute to this offset between reconstructed and expected SSTs. We p...

Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) are membrane lipids of certain soil bacteria, and their relative distributions are used as a proxy for air temperature and soil pH. While temperature is recorded by the degree of methylation, soil pH is reflected by the amount of internal cyclization and the relative abundance of 6-methyl iso...

Sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions based on isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (isoGDGT) distributions from the Eocene southwest (SW) Pacific Ocean are unequivocally warmer than can be reconciled with state-of-the-art fully coupled climate models. However, the SST signal preserved in sedimentary archives can be affected by c...

Isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (isoGDGTs) are membrane lipids of Archaea. Organic biomarker proxies associated with these lipids, such as the TEX 86 paleothermometer and Branched and Isoprenoid Tetraether (BIT) index, are often used in paleoenvironmental reconstructions for the marine environment, but their general applicability i...

Significance The end-Permian mass extinction event (ca. 252 Mya) is the most-severe biodiversity loss in Earth’s history and is globally recognized by a rapid negative carbon isotope excursion. The trigger of this event, however, remains controversial. New paired terrestrial and marine compound-specific carbon isotope records may provide clues for...

TEX86 is a paleothermometer based on Thaumarcheotal glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids and is one of the most frequently used proxies for sea-surface temperature (SST) in warmer-than-present climates. However, the calibration of TEX86 to SST is controversial because its correlation to SST is not significantly stronger than that to d...

Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (BrGDGTs) are a suite of orphan bacterial membrane lipids commonly used as paleo-environmental proxies for mean annual air temperature (MAT) and pH. Recent calibrations between the Methylation of Branched Tetraethers index (MBT’5ME) and MAT, based on modern surface soils (including peats), show a consi...

We here estimate past temperature and hydroclimate variations in eastern Anatolia for marine isotope stages 4 to 1 (MIS4 to MIS1) respectively using branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) and the hydrogen isotopic composition of n-C29 leaf-wax n-alkanes (δ²Hwax) stored in the sedimentary record of Lake Van (Turkey). Our millennial...

Branched glycerol monoalkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGMGTs) are membrane-spanning lipids which were initially identified in marine settings and have more recently been found in peats and lake sediments. In the latter settings, their abundance relative to that of the branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) appears to increase under w...

The fractional abundance of branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (brGDGT) membrane lipids in coastal marine sediments has been posited as a proxy for the reconstruction of terrestrial temperatures on the nearby land, based on the assumption that they are produced in soils and delivered to the marine realm by rivers following erosion. Here,...

Sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions based on isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (isoGDGT) distributions from the Eocene southwest (sw) Pacific Ocean are unequivocally warmer than can be reconciled with state-of-the-art fully coupled climate models. However, the SST signal preserved in sedimentary archives can be affected by c...

The microbial communities inferred in silica sinter rocks, based on multiscale morphological features (fabrics and textures) and the presence of lipid biomarkers and their carbon isotopic composition, are evaluated in the Krýsuvík geothermal area of Iceland. Close to vent environments (T > 75 °C and pH 1.7-3), stream floors are capped with homogene...

Current knowledge of terrestrial ecosystem response to the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ca. 56 Ma) is largely based on the midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. To more fully reconstruct global terrestrial ecosystem response to the PETM, we generated vegetation and biomarker proxy records from an outcrop section on the southern coast...

A series of papers published shortly after the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX, 2004) on Lomonosov Ridge indicated remarkably high early Eocene sea surface temperatures (SSTs; ca. 23 to 27 ∘C) and land air temperatures (ca. 17 to 25 ∘C) based on the distribution of isoprenoid and branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol t...

Lake sediments are important archives of continental climate history, and their lipid biomarker content can be exploited to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions. Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) are bacterial membrane lipids widely used in paleoclimate studies to reconstruct past temperature. However, major gaps still e...

Reconstructing the timing of mountain range uplift and the evolution of high-altitude plateaus is important when attempting to understand potential feedbacks between tectonics and climate at geological timescales. This requires proxies that are able to accurately reconstruct elevation during different time periods in the past. Often, the sensitivit...

Several studies indicate that North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) formation might have initiated during the globally warm Eocene (56–34 Ma). However, constraints on Eocene surface ocean conditions in source regions presently conducive to deep water formation are sparse. Here we test whether ocean conditions of the middle Eocene Labrador Sea might have...

Global climate cooled from the early Eocene hothouse (∼52–50 Ma) to the latest Eocene (∼34 Ma). At the same time, the tectonic evolution of the Southern Ocean was characterized by the opening and deepening of circum-Antarctic gateways, which affected both surface- and deep-ocean circulation. The Tasmanian Gateway played a key role in regulating oce...

A range of future climate scenarios are projected for high atmospheric CO2 concentrations, given uncertainties over future human actions as well as potential environmental and climatic feedbacks. The geological record offers an opportunity to understand climate system response to a range of forcings and feedbacks which operate over multiple tempora...

Earthworms are integral parts of many ecosystems and may play a decisive role in determining whether soils function as carbon (C) sink or source. However, information on how earthworms affect the composition and stability of soil organic matter (SOM) is scarce. Particularly their effect on organic matter deriving from leaves and roots with distinct...

Study region The Godavari River is the largest non-Himalayan, monsoon-fed river in India, providing water resources for ∼75 million people. Study focus Stable isotopes of Godavari River water in a pre-monsoon (dry) and monsoon (wet) season are used to evaluate seasonal and spatial dynamics and gain insights into hydrological processes, provenance...

Enhanced nutrient input and warming have led to the development of low oxygen (hypoxia) in coastal waters globally. For many coastal areas, insight into redox conditions prior to human impact is lacking. Here, we reconstructed bottom water redox conditions and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) for the coastal Stockholm Archipelago over the past 3000...

Lake sediments are important archives of continental climate history, and their lipid biomarker content can be exploited to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions. Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) are bacterial membrane lipids widely used in paleoclimate studies to reconstruct past temperature. However, major gaps still e...

Soils represent the largest reservoir of organic carbon (OC) on land. Upon mobilization, this OC is either returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2) or transported and ultimately locked into (marine) sediments, where it will act as a long-term sink of atmospheric CO2. These fluxes of soil OC are, however, difficult to evaluate, mostly due...

The mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (mPWP; 3264-3025 ka) represents the most recent interval in Earth's history where atmospheric CO 2 levels were similar to today. The reconstruction of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and climate modelling studies has shown that global temperatures were 2-4 • C warmer than present. However, detailed reconstructions of...