Lipid biomarkers in aeolian sediments under desert pavements – potential and first results from the Black Rock Desert, Utah, USA, and Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain

摘要

The analysis of lipid biomarkers, particularly n-alkanes, hasbecome a popular and widely applied tool in paleoenvironmental and climate research during the last decades (Zechet al., 2011). Whereas long-chain n-alkane homologues(> nC27) with a strong odd-over-even predominance (OEP)are characteristic for higher plant leaf waxes, short-chain andmid-chain homologues (nC16-nC26) indicate aquatic or microbial sources of n-alkanes. Furthermore, nC31 and nC33were found to dominate in most grasses and herbs, whereasnC27 and nC29 were reported to dominate in most treesand shrubs (Zech et al., 2009). Therefore, sedimentary longchain n-alkanes have been used for reconstructing vegetation changes, among others, from loess–paleosol sequences(Zech et al., 2012, 2013).