Eocene Sea Surface Temperatures from TEX86 and GDGT Proxies, 56-34 Million Years Ago

A global compilation of TEX86-derived sea surface temperature (SST) estimates for the Eocene epoch. The data accompanies the study by Inglis et al. (2015) and includes fractional abundances of isoprenoidal GDGTs and related indices for flagging potentially problematic SST estimates. Samples were collected from globally-distributed marine sediments via DSDP, ODP, IODP, and personal sampling expeditions.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing past ocean temperature trends based on TEX86 values.
• Identifying and filtering potentially biased SST estimates based on GDGT distribution indices like GDGTRS.
• Analyzing latitudinal temperature gradients by comparing low- and high-latitude binned time-series.
• Assessing the robustness of paleoclimate compilations using jackknifing sensitivity analysis described in the sheets.

Strengths

• Covers a specific, significant geological period (Eocene, 56 to 34 million years ago).
• Includes quality control indices to flag potentially problematic SST estimates.
• Derived from a range of globally-distributed marine sediment sources.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

British Geological Survey (BGS), accompanying Inglis et al. (2015).

Collection Method

Compilation of new and published data from marine sediment samples.

Time Range

56 to 34 million years ago (Eocene epoch).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-09 08:31:24.358433; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Globally-distributed marine sediment sites.