Citation:

PANGAEA.992011

Name: GDGTs of soil and lacustrine sediments in Cameroon
Published: 2026-06-29
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywords: Cameroon; GDGT; Holocene; lake Mbalang; modern sediments

Always quote citation above when using data! You can download the citation in several formats below.

Published: 2026-06-29 • DOI registered: 2026-07-28

RIS Citation BibTeX Citation Text Citation ShareShow Map Google Earth

Abstract:

This file contains the biomarker data from the paper Ménot et al., 2025 Organic Geochemistry (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2025.104982). African low-latitude regions tend to be underrepresented in global continental temperature reconstructions, limiting both our understanding and the reliability of predictions of past and future changes in temperature and precipitation in those parts of the world. The lack of continuous sedimentary archives and quantitative temperature proxies further complicates this issue, especially outside Eastern Africa. Here, we use data collected in Cameroon lakes to assess branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (brGDGT)-based temperature proxies and examine potential confounding variables impacting temperature reconstructions. By analyzing GDGT distributions in soil watershed, water column, and surface sediment samples from a total of 11 Cameroon lakes, we could verify that the degree of methylation of brGDGTs (through the MBT′5Me) can serve as a reliable indicator for reconstructing mean annual air temperatures. Additionally, we could confirm that surface water conductivity represents a controlling factor for the brGDGT assemblage in surface sediments of crater lakes. Moreover, we provide the first reconstruction of Mid- to Late-Holocene GDGT-based air temperatures for a crater lake in Cameroon (Central Africa), revealing a temperature decrease of 2.5 °C over the last 7000 years, which agrees with recently published records for East Africa but exceeds current model predictions. These discrepancies highlight the need for additional studies to focus on this geographically underrepresented area.

Keyword(s):

Cameroon; GDGT; Holocene; lake Mbalang; modern sediments

Related to:

Ménot, Guillemette; Ansanay-Alex, Salomé; Schwab, Valérie F; Todou, Gilbert; Séné, Olivier; Onana, Jean-Michel; Gleixner, Gerd; Sachse, Dirk; Garcin, Yannick (2025): Mid- to Late-Holocene branched GDGT-based air temperatures from a crater lake in Cameroon (Central Africa). Organic Geochemistry, 204, 104982, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2025.104982

Funding:

Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), grant/award no. ANR-18-CE01-0005: ANR TAPIOCA

German Research Foundation (DFG), grant/award no. 160487544

Coverage:

Median Latitude: 6.734127 * Median Longitude: 11.848582 * South-bound Latitude: 3.768600 * West-bound Longitude: 8.980500 * North-bound Latitude: 11.054700 * East-bound Longitude: 14.145700

Minimum Elevation: 17.0 m * Maximum Elevation: 1911.0 m

Event(s):

ASSO * Latitude: 6.624500 * Longitude: 12.981600 * Elevation: 896.0 m * Comment: Assom lake basin

BALE * Latitude: 5.550300 * Longitude: 10.421100 * Elevation: 1376.0 m * Comment: Baleng lake basin

BARO * Latitude: 4.654400 * Longitude: 9.408600 * Elevation: 304.0 m * Comment: Barombi Mbo lake basin

Parameter(s):

#	Name	Short Name	Unit	Principal Investigator	Method/Device	Comment
1	Event label	Event		Ménot, Guillemette
2	DEPTH, sediment/rock	Depth sed	m	Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)	Geocode
3	Depth, top/min	Depth top	m	Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)
4	Depth, bottom/max	Depth bot	m	Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)
5	DEPTH, water	Depth water	m	Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)	Geocode
6	DEPTH, soil	Depth soil	m	Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)	Geocode
7	Depth, soil, minimum	Depth soil min	m	Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)
8	Depth, soil, maximum	Depth soil max	m	Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)
9	Sample type	Samp type		Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)
10	Lake	Lake		Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)	basin
11	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (peak area)	brGDGT peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200	sum
12	Isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (peak area)	iso GDGT peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200	sum
13	Crenarchaeol (peak area)	Cren peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
14	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIa (peak area)	brGDGT IIIa peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
15	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIa' (peak area)	brGDGT IIIa' peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
16	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIa'' (peak area)	brGDGT IIIa'' peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
17	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIb (peak area)	brGDGT IIIb peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
18	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIb' (peak area)	brGDGT IIIb' peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
19	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIb'' (peak area)	brGDGT IIIb'' peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
20	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIc (peak area)	brGDGT IIIc peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
21	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIc' (peak area)	brGDGT IIIc' peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
22	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIa (peak area)	brGDGT IIa peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
23	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIa' (peak area)	brGDGT IIa' peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
24	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIb (peak area)	brGDGT IIb peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
25	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIb' (peak area)	brGDGT IIb' peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
26	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIc (peak area)	brGDGT IIc peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
27	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIc' (peak area)	brGDGT IIc' peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
28	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, Ia (peak area)	brGDGT Ia peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
29	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, Ib (peak area)	brGDGT Ib peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
30	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, Ic (peak area)	brGDGT Ic peak area		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
31	Isoprenoid acyclic glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, fractional abundance	iso GDGT-0		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200	total
32	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, fractional abundance	brGDGT		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200	total
33	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIa, fractional abundance	brGDGT IIIa		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
34	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIa', fractional abundance	brGDGT IIIa'		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
35	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIa'', fractional abundance	brGDGT IIIa''		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
36	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIb, fractional abundance	brGDGT IIIb		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
37	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIb', fractional abundance	brGDGT IIIb'		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
38	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIb'', fractional abundance	brGDGT IIIb''		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
39	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIc, fractional abundance	brGDGT IIIc		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
40	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIIc', fractional abundance	brGDGT IIIc'		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
41	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIa, fractional abundance	brGDGT IIa		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
42	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIa', fractional abundance	brGDGT IIa'		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
43	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIb, fractional abundance	brGDGT IIb		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
44	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIb', fractional abundance	brGDGT IIb'		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
45	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIc, fractional abundance	brGDGT IIc		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
46	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, IIc', fractional abundance	brGDGT IIc'		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
47	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, Ia, fractional abundance	brGDGT Ia		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
48	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, Ib, fractional abundance	brGDGT Ib		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
49	Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether, Ic, fractional abundance	brGDGT Ic		Ménot, Guillemette	High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS), Agilent 1200
50	Branched and isoprenoid tetraether index	BIT		Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)
51	Methylation index of 5-methyl branched tetraethers	MBT'5ME		Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)
52	Isomer ratio of 6-methyl branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers	IR6me		Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)
53	Cyclization ratio of branched tetraethers prime	CBT'		Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)
54	Cyclization ratio of branched tetraethers of 5-methyl branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether	CBT5ME		Ménot, Guillemette	see reference(s)

License:

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)

Status:

Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)

Size:

1514 data points

Download Data

Download dataset as tab-delimited text — use the following character encoding:

View dataset as HTML