Organic molecules preserved in sediments and other environmental archives record the organisms, environment, and process-specific dynamics from which they originated. Interpreting their signals, however, requires disentangling biological, physical, and chemical overprints from the original signal. Lipid biomarkers from diverse source organisms spanning archaea, bacteria, algae and higher plants to animals, together with their stable isotopic composition, remain one of the most powerful tools for this work. Analyses often integrate various compound classes such as n-alkanes, fatty acids, alkenones, sterols, hopanoids, HBIs (Highly Branched Isoprenoids), HGs (Heterocyst Glycolipids), GDGTs (Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers), and intact polar lipids, applied across settings ranging from modern process studies to deep-time reconstructions.
This session draws together biomarker-based research across terrestrial, lacustrine, marine and anthropogenically influenced environments. We encourage submissions of studies using new biomarker tools, proxy development, compound-specific isotope analyses (e.g., δ¹³C, δ²H, δ18O, Δ¹⁴C), lipid biosynthesis and phylogeny of source organisms, and transport and diagenetic processes.
We also invite studies applying biomarker and isotopic evidence to reconstruct environmental variables such as temperature, hydroclimate, vegetation change, human impact, and biogeochemical cycling across modern and past environments. We particularly encourage contributions from early-career scientists.