Antoni Rosell-Melé

This dataset contains supporting information for "Quantitative link between sedimentary chlorin and sea-surface chlorophyll-a". The dataset consists of global oceanic biogeochemical data from sea-surface, water column and surface sediments. The dataset includes sedimentary chlorin and sea-surface chlorophyll concentration, total organic carbon content, oxygen concentration and mass accumulation rate, among other biogeochemical parameters.

We have developed and applied new analytical methodologies to study the drivers of the spatial distribution of pyrogenic biomarkers throughout the Iberian Peninsula. The goal of the study is to develop a multiproxy pyrogenic biomarker approach to quantitatively reconstruct the paleo-occurrence and extension of biomass wildfires from sediments. For this purpose, we have compiled an extensive collection of lacustrine sediments throughout Spain. The sample suite is representative of a wide range of climates and ecosystems. We have quantified the abundance of different types of pyrogenic biomarkers such as BPCAs (benzene polycarboxylic acids derived from the chemical oxydation of pyrogenic carbon), MAS (monosaccharide anhydrides, namely levoglucosan) and PAHs (polyaromatic hydrocarbons namely with 4 or more rings). The data obtained, as concentrations or ratios, has been mapped and compared to the documented occurrence and extension of wildfires in Spain over the last 5 decades. Specifically, we have calculated the burned area within different radius around the lake, and correlated them against the biomarker data. The regional distribution of fires in Spain is the primary driver of the spatial distribution of pyrogenic biomarkers in lakes sediments. Thus, the sedimentary concentration of pyrogenic biomarkers, generally, correlates with the area of burned forest land within a radius of 10-20km. Work is still under way to decipher the meaning between the correlations of different types of pyrogenic biomarkers, and the relation between biomarker ratios and fire regimes and vegetation types. Our study shows that pyrogenic biomarkers in lakes can be used as paleoproxies to study regional fires, as opposed to those occurring at larger spatial scales. It remains to be seen, how our findings  from Spanish lakes can be extrapolated  to other continental regions.  Nonetheless, our study validates their use to quantify the area of forest burned in the region surrounding the lake, in addition to the frequency of fires in the past.

The is a mounting evidence that global emissions of dust were significantly higher during glacial than interglacial periods of the Pleistocene, and probably the Pliocene epochs. this pattern is observed in records from the low and mid latitudes, albeit with a varying degree of amplitude. During these time periods spanning 4 million years, the Earth climate underwent major transitions, such as the initiation of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciations and the Mid Pleistocene Transition. In parallel, dust transport and deposition on the oceans might have underwent stepwise increases, mainly during glacials. However, it is not clear yet if such changes are representative of global or regional climate response. Thus, dust records in marine sediments reflect changes in the different processes that drive the emission, transport, and deposition of dust on the oceans. In here, we report a compilation of marine dust records spanning the Pliocene-Pleistocene from all the major ocean basins. The synthesis of dust records on a global scale allows the identification of common patterns of variability and drivers. We analyse the data to infer changes in the global atmospheric circulation on orbital time scale, and to assess its meridional and zonal response during major climate transitions since the Pliocene.

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.

Investigating the spatiotemporal dynamics of iceberg discharges during the last glacial period constitutes a major challenge for paleoclimate research. In recent decades, many ice‐rafted debris (IRD) provenance studies, mostly based on the comparison of the inorganic signature of IRD‐rich layers and surrounding continental bedrock, have differentiated main subareas of individual ice sheets as iceberg sources and gauged their dynamic interplay. Diagnosis of specific source ice streams has nonetheless remained limited. Here we propose a new IRD provenance methodology to refine the identification of iceberg sources. It relies on the organic geochemical characterization of glacigenic debris flow (GDF) deposits to obtain the biomarker fingerprint of IRD sources. To test its potential, we analyze the composition of n‐alkanes and chlorophyll‐derived pigments in sediments deposited within six major North Atlantic GDF depocenters fed by ice streams draining the surrounding ice sheets. The biomarker fingerprint of GDF deposits appears to (1) be consistent with a common origin of IRD and GDF deposits through erosion of outcrops and transport by ice streams, (2) differ significantly from that of ambient hemipelagic sediments, (3) be specific and unique to each GDF depocenter, making it possible to distinguish the corresponding specific ice streams, (4) be imprinted in IRD‐bearing marine sediments, and (5) have remained homogeneous enough through the last glacial to be used as a proxy for IRD sources. The biomarker fingerprint of GDF deposits thus shows strong potential to track the specific source ice streams that delivered IRD to the last glacial North Atlantic.

In Quaternary paleosciences, the rationale behind analogical inference presupposes that former processes can be explained by causes operating now, although their intensity and rates can vary through time. In this paper we synthesised the results of different modern analogue studies performed in a varved lake. We discuss their potential value to obtain best results from high resolution past records. Different biogeochemical contemporary processes revealed seasonality and year-to-year variability, e.g., calcite precipitation, lake oxygenation, production and deposition of pollen and phytoplankton growth. Fingerprints of the first two of these processes were clearly evidenced in the varve-sublayers and allow understanding related to past events. Pollen studies suggested the possibility of identifying and characterizing seasonal layers even in the absence of varves. Marker pigments in the water column were tightly associated with phytoplankton groups living today; most of them were identified in the sediment record as well. We observed that 50% of these marker pigments were destroyed between deposition and permanent burying. In another study, seasonality in the production/distribution of branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) and derived temperature estimates were investigated in catchment soils and particles settling in the lake. The signatures of brGDGTs in depositional environments mainly were representative of stable conditions of soils in the catchment that last over decades; no brGDGTs seemed to be produced within the lake. The main contribution of this review is to show the advantages and limitations of a multiproxy modern-analogue approach in Lake Montcortès as a case study and proposing new working hypotheses for future research.