An automated method for the determination of the TEX86 and U37K' paleotemperature indices

Laura E. Fleming, Jessica E. Tierney

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

The relative abundances of archaeal glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) compounds (TEX86) and alkenone lipids (U37K') are commonly used paleoceanographic proxies for temperature. These proxies are analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC) methods, respectively, and traditionally, the peaks corresponding to the individual compounds are integrated by hand. Here, we introduce a MATLAB software package called ORIGAmI (ORganIc Geochemistry peAk Integration) that allows for automated, reproducible determination of these indices and quantification of lipid concentrations. The method is based on modeling the peaks with individual Gaussian curves. Comparisons with manually integrated data demonstrate that the method is accurate and precise. Furthermore, automating the peak detection and quantification process reduces both analysis time and user error.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)84-91
Number of pages8
JournalOrganic Geochemistry
Volume92
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2016

Keywords

  • Gaussian peak detection
  • Paleotemperature proxies
  • TEX
  • U'

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geochemistry and Petrology

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