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Numerous temperature and environmental proxies are based on glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), which are membrane lipids commonly found in the water columns and sediments of lakes. The TEX86 temperature proxy is based on isoprenoid GDGTs, which are produced by members of the archaea, and is used to reconstruct lake surface temperature. Branched GDGTs are lipids produced by bacteria and form the basis of the MBT′5ME temperature proxy. Although many outstanding questions still exist regarding proxies based on isoprenoid and branched GDGTs, both compound classes have been relatively well-studied in lakes. More recently, other types of GDGTs and related compounds are increasingly being reported from lacustrine sediments including hydroxylated GDGTs (OH-GDGTs) and glycerol monoalkyl glycerol tetraethers (GMGTs). In the process of generating lacustrine TEX86 or MBT′5ME temperature records, we noted that OH-GDGTs or GMGTs (or both) are frequently present. The RI-OH, based on OH-GDGTs, recently has been proposed as a temperature proxy in lakes while GMGTs are associated with oxygen-deficient environments. Here we examine distributions of OH-GDGTs and GMGTs in a variety of lakes that also have existing TEX86 or MBT’5ME temperature reconstructions. These lakes range from small to large, shallow to deep, tropical to arctic, differ in oxygenation state, and have sedimentary records covering timespans from the Holocene to multiple glacial-interglacial cycles. Study lakes include El’gygytgyn (arctic Russia), Malawi (tropical southeast Africa), Issyk Kul (Kyrgyzstan), Lake 578 (Greenland), and high elevation lakes in the central Andes (South America). We explore the presence/absence of these compounds in contrasting depositional environments and examine their GDGT distributions in relationship to temperature variability, oxic/anoxic conditions, hydroclimate fluctuations, and other geochemical/environmental parameters. 

The Common Era history of effective moisture in the Central Andes is poorly understood, as most Andean proxy records reflect large-scale atmospheric circulation over the South American lowlands rather than localized precipitation vs. evaporation. Here we present 1800-year leaf wax hydrogen and carbon isotope sedimentary records from Lake Chacacocha (13.96°S, 71.08°W, 4,860 m asl.) in the Central Andes. Leaf wax δ2H from different chain lengths offers information about large-scale atmospheric conditions and local-scale effective moisture. Our leaf wax δ2H data record a gradual intensification of the South American summer monsoon (SASM) beginning around ~1250 CE, prior to the external forcings of the Little Ice Age (LIA). Despite peak SASM intensification, our leaf wax δ13C data reveal a locally arid interval between ca. 1600 and 1800 CE. The arid interval was most likely driven by enhanced evaporation and reduced local precipitation, as indicated by the hydrogen isotope fractionation between mid- and long-chain n-alkanes as well as by climate model simulations. Our results help to reconcile conflicting interpretations of the SASM, glacial, and lake-level histories in the Central Andes during the Common Era.