Further development on sea-ice HBI biomarker proxies.

Sea ice is a crucial component of the Earth’s climate system, which helps regulate global ocean and atmosphere’s temperature. The alarming decline in sea-ice extent and thickness under modern climate conditions has created the urgency to understand the long-term sea-ice variability and mechanisms of change. In recent years, the highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) lipid biomarker IP₂₅ has emerged as a powerful proxy measure of past sea ice in the Arctic, and its analysis in a variety of marine sediments has provided the foundation for a large number of palaeo sea ice reconstructions spanning thousands to millions of years before present. To date, IP₂₅ and related HBI-based studies have focussed largely on reconstructions of sea-ice extent and seasonal dynamics. Here we aim to further develop such sea ice proxies by measuring the changes in distribution and isotopic composition of HBIs in HBI-producing diatoms grown under different controlled laboratory conditions. We present preliminary results from the diatom Haslea ostrearia and outline the next steps of our research in the coming year.