Biogeochemistry Laboratory

The BioGeoChemistry (BGQ) Lab is unique in Portugal carefully designed to analyze a range of biomarkers’ compounds essential for sea surface temperature, marine production and climate reconstructions.

Biogeochemistry Laboratory

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INTRODUCTION

The BioGeoChemistry (BGQ) Lab is unique to Portugal. It is carefully designed to analyze a range of biomarker compounds, which are proxies (or indicators) for sea surface temperature, marine production and are essential for climate reconstructions.
The BGQ Lab is equipped with a VARIAN 3800 GC-FID , a Bruker Scion 456-SQ GC-MS, a brand-new Scion 436 GC-FID and an accelerated solvent extractor (Dionex ASE 350), that were provided by the EMSO-PT project. These equipment are used for the identification and quantification of organic molecules produced both by terrestrial plants and marine organisms that are preserved in marine and land sediments. The GC-MS allows research into a wide suite of well-established and new organic markers that reflect past environmental conditions. These methods and analysis are well established for Paleoclimate Studies, as well as in the areas of Geology and Oil Exploration, Environment and Pollution, Deep Biosphere, and Archaeology.

Equipment List

VARIAN 3800 GC-FID
The VARIAN 3800 GC-FID is used for the identification and quantification of organic molecules produced both by terrestrial plants and marine organisms that are preserved in marine and on land sediments.These are reliable equipment used for paleoclimate, oil geology, environment and pollution, deep biosphere, and archeology studies.
Bruker Scion 456-SQ GC-MS
The GC-MS allows the research of a wide suite of well-established and new organic markers of past environmental conditions. This is a reliable equipment used for paleoclimate, oil geology, environment and pollution, deep biosphere, and archeology studies.
Dionex ASE 350
The Dionex ASE 350 accelerated solvent extractor is used in the sample preparation process to extract lipids from sediment samples for bioanalysis. This process is then followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis
The equipment accommodates sample sizes of 1-100g and allows unattended extraction of up to 24 samples. The chemically inert pathway supports acid and alkaline sample matrices and solvents.
Scion 436 GC-FID
This equipment are used for the identification and quantification of organic molecules produced both by terrestrial plants and marine organisms that are preserved in marine and on land sediments.

STAFF LIST

Selected Publications

  • Rodrigues, T., M. Alonso-García, D. A. Hodell, M. Rufino, F. Naughton, J. O. Grimalt, A, H. L. Voelker, and F. Abrantes. 2017.
  • A 1-Ma record of sea surface temperature and extreme cooling events in the North Atlantic: A perspective from the Iberian Margin,
  • Quaternary Science Reviews, 172: 118-130, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.07.004
  • Peer-reviewed International Journal
  • Abrantes, F., T. Rodrigues, M. Rufino, E. Salgueiro, D. Oliveira, S. Gomes, P. Oliveira, A. Costa, M. Mil-Homens, T. Drago and F. Naughton. 2017.
  • The climate of the Common Era off the Iberian Peninsula,
  • Climate of the Past, 13 (12): pp. 1901-1918, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1901-2017
  • Peer-reviewed International Journal
  • Oliveira, D., S. Desprat, Q. Yin, F. Naughton, R. Trigo, T. Rodrigues, F. Abrantes and M. F. Sánchez Goñi. 2018.
  • Unraveling the forcings controlling the vegetation and climate of the best orbital analogues for the present interglacial in SW Europe,
  • Climate Dynamics, 51 (1-2): 667-686. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3948-7
  • Peer-reviewed International Journal
  • Sánchez Goñi, M.F.; Ferretti, P.; Polanco-Martínez, J.M.; Rodrigues, T.; Alonso-García, M.; Rodríguez-Tovar, F.J.; Dorador, J.; Desprat, S.
  • “Pronounced northward shift of the westerlies during MIS 17 leading to the strong 100-kyr ice age cycles”
  • Earth and Planetary Science Letters 511 (2019): 117-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2019.01.032
  • ISI
  • Naughton, F., S. Costas, S. D. Gomes, S. Desprat, T. Rodrigues, M. F. Sanchez Goñi, H. Renssen. 2019.
  • Coupled ocean and atmospheric changes during the Younger Dryas in southwestern Europe
  • Quaternary Science Reviews, 212, pp. 108-120, doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.03.033
  • Peer-reviewed International Journal
  • Alonso-Garcia, M. T. Rodrigues, F. Abrantes, M. Padilha, C. A. Alvarez-Zarikian, T. Kunkelova, J. D. Wright and C. Betzler. 2019.
  • Sea-surface temperature, productivity and hydrological changes in the Northern Indian Ocean (Maldives) during the interval ~575-175 ka (MIS 14 to 7)
  • Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 536, doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109376
  • Peer-reviewed International Journal
  • Quivelli, O., M. Marino, T. Rodrigues, A. Girone, P. Maiorano, F. Abrantes, E. Salgueiro and F. Bassinot. 2020.
  • Surface and deep water variability in the Western Mediterranean (ODP Site 975) during insolation cycle 74: High-resolution calcareous plankton and molecular biomarker signals
  • Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 542, doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109583
  • Peer-reviewed International Journal
  • Salgueiro E., A. H. L. Voelker P. A. Martin, T. Rodrigues D. Zúñig, M. Froján F. de la Granda, N. Villacieros‐Robineau, F. Alonso‐Pérez, A. Alberto, A. Rebotim, R. González‐Álvarez , C. G. Castro and F. Abrantes. 2019.
  • d18O and Mg/Ca thermometry in planktonic foraminifera: a multi-proxy approach towards tracing coastal upwelling dynamics
  • Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 35, 2019PA003726, doi:10.1029/2019PA003726
  • Peer-reviewed International Journal
  • Gomes, S.D., W. J. Fletcher, T. Rodrigues, A. Stone, F. Abrantes and F. Naughton. 2020.
  • Time-transgressive Holocene maximum of temperate and Mediterranean forest development across the Iberian Peninsula reflects orbital forcing
  • Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 550: 109739, doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109739
  • Peer-reviewed International Journal

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