“…The NPP data for the surface waters above the station sites are derived from the standard Vertically Generalized Production Model, using remote sensing data spanning from 2004 to 2018 69 . To explore the relationship between the IMBT index and water depth, we compiled brGDGT data from various studies, including Cao et al 70 , Cao et al 71 , Ceccopieri et al 51 , Crampton-Flood 72 , Crampton-Flood 73 , Crampton-Flood et al 74 , De Jonge et al 19 , De Jonge et al 16 , Li et al 75 , Sinninghe Damsté 22 , Soelen et al 76 , Wang et al 49 , Warden et al 77 , Zell et al 78 , and the present study. Note that brGDGTs in the surface sediments of the KT and AT have been reported in Xu et al 79 , and brGDGTs in the core sediments of the MT have been reported in Xiao et al 24 .…”