Global soil and peat branched GDGT compilation dataset

Accurate temperature records for the deep geological past are a vital component of paleoclimate research. Distributional changes of branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (brGDGT) lipids in geological archives including paleosoils are a promising indicators to infer past continental air temperatures. However, the 'orphan' status of the brGDGTs, the potential effect of temperature-independent parameters on their relative distribution, and the uneven geographical distribution of the soils used for calibration contribute to the high uncertainty of brGDGT-based transfer functions (root mean squared error, RMSE: ± 5 °C). Here, we expand the soil dataset from the previous calibration(s) with new and published soil data. We use Bayesian statistics to calibrate the relationship of the 5-methyl brGDGTs (MBT'5Me) and mean annual air temperature (MAAT). […]