n-Alkan-2-one distributions in a northeastern China peat core spanning the last 16 kyr

Most research on long chain methyl ketones has focused on their origins and distributions. Their application in paleoclimate studies is less common than that of other n-alkyl lipids. The goal of this research was to explore this potential by studying n-alkan-2-ones from the Hani peat sequence in northeastern China. They were identified using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and showed a distribution ranging from C19 to C31 with a strong odd/even predominance. This type of distribution is considered to derive from Sphagum and microbial oxidation of n-alkanes. Comparison with climate sensitive indicators and macrofossil analysis shows that microbial oxidation of n-alkanes derived from higher plants was enhanced during the warm early Holocene period. This led us to develop three n-alkan-2-one proxies – C27/RC23–31 (C27/HMW-KET), carbon preference index (CPIH-KET) and average chain length (ACL(27–31)-KET) – as possible indicators of paleoclimate in the peat-forming environment. These proxies, in combination with C27 n-alkane dD values and peat cellulose d18O records, might allow examination of paleo-ecosystem behavior during climatic evolution in northeastern China over the past 16,000 yr.