Abstract The combined use of plant wax n-alkane δD values and branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether lipid (brGDGT) distributions provides a novel approach for paleoaltitude reconstruction. Studies from East Africa revealed, however, inconsistent results between the proxy estimates and altitudinal parameters. Here, we explore these proxies in soils of different land use (forest, cropland and pasture) along an altitudinal transect in the Jimma zone of the southwest Ethiopian highlands to better understand environmental and plant-specific factors controlling the isotopic composition and distribution of n-alkanes and brGDGTs. The hydrogen isotope composition of individual n-alkanes does not unambiguously reflect the altitude effect on precipitation δD, but seems largely influenced by the specific land use. Only forest soil-derived n-C27 and n-C29 alkane δD values exhibit a significant linear relationship with altitude (r −0.87, p

中文翻译：

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土地利用对埃塞俄比亚海拔断面土壤正烷烃 δD 和 brGDGT 分布的影响：对（古）环境研究的影响

摘要 植物蜡正烷烃 δD 值和支链甘油二烷基甘油四醚脂质 (brGDGT) 分布的组合使用为古海拔重建提供了一种新方法。然而，来自东非的研究表明，代理估计和海拔参数之间的结果不一致。在这里，我们沿着埃塞俄比亚西南部高地吉马地区的一个海拔断面探索了不同土地利用（森林、农田和牧场）土壤中的这些替代物，以更好地了解控制 n-同位素组成和分布的环境和植物特定因素。烷烃和 brGDGT。单个正烷烃的氢同位素组成并不能明确反映海拔对降水 δD 的影响，但似乎在很大程度上受特定土地利用的影响。