TEX86

( OrganicIndex )

TEX86

The use of TEX86 (TetraEther indeX of 86 carbons) as a tool to reconstruct past sea surface temperature variability is based on the relative cyclization of isoprenoidal glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetra ethers (GDGTs) produced by marine archaea. TEX86 is defined as [1]:

TEX_{86}=\frac{GDGT-2+GDGT-3+Cren'}{GDGT-1+GDGT-2+GDGT-3+Cren'}

where GDGTs 1-3 indicate compounds containing 1-3 cyclopentyl moieties, respectively, and Cren' denotes the regioisomer of crenarchaeol, a diagnostic biomarker for the Thaumarchaeota, the primary producers of GDGTs in the marine realm. By definition, values of the TEX86 index are comprised between 0 and 1.

Experimental evidence suggests that archaea produce GDGTs with more rings warmer waters, a response observed in cultures of hyperthermophile archaea [2] [3] and mesocosm experiments with natural seawater containing heterogenous archaeal population [4] [5]. References

[1] Schouten, S., Hopmans, E. C., Schefuß, E., & Sinninghe Damsté, J. S. (2002). Distributional variations in marine crenarchaeotal membrane lipids: a new organic proxy for reconstructing ancient sea water temperatures? . Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 204, 265-274.

[2] de Rosa, M., Esposito, E., Gambacorta, A., Nicolaus, B., & Bu'Lock, J. (1980). Effects of temperature on ether lipid composition of Caldariella acidophilia. Phytochemistry, 19, 827-831.

[3] Uda, I., Sugai, A., Itoh, Y., & Itoh, T. (2001). Variation in molecular species of polar liipds from Thermoplasma acidophilum depends on growth temperature. Lipids, 36, 103-105.

[4] Wuchter, C., Schouten, S., Coolen, M. J. L., & Sinninghe Damsté, J. S. (2004). Temperature-dependent variation in the distribution of tetraether membrane lipids of marine Crenarchaeota: implications for TEX86 paleothermometry. Paleoceanography, 19, PA4028. doi:10.1029/2004PA001041

[5]Schouten, S., Forster, A., Panato, E., & Sinninghe Damsté, J. S. (2007). Towards the calibration of the TEX86 paleothermometer on ancient greenhouse worlds. Organic Geochemistry. doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2007.05.014