Appraisal of sedimentary alkenones for the quantitative reconstruction of phytoplankton biomass

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Abstract
Significance: Biomarker proxies, namely alkenones, are commonly used to reconstruct past primary productivity. However, their value has been questioned as they are posited to be controlled by diagenetic processes and often limited to draw qualitative inferences on the carbon cycle. In fact, most proxies have not been globally appraised with ocean biogeochemical data. Here, we use a combination of remote sensing and geochemical data to provide a spatial-based global scale calibration that shows the use of alkenones to quantify past sea surface chlorophyll-aconcentration, which ultimately can be used to infer quantitatively past primary productivity in paleorecords. This calibration paves the way to clarify the relative role of the marine carbon cycle in climate variability using field data, and tests biogeochemical models.

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