It has been proposed that GDGT membrane lipids are an adaptation to the high temperatures present in the environments that are home to extremophile archaea [2] Archaeal GDGTs were first detected in pelagic waters.

Following the discovery of GDGTs outside of hydrothermal environments, crenarchaeol was first identified as the major GDGT component in surface sediments and extracts from C. symbiosum by two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D-NMR) spectroscopy.

It has been confirmed to be produced by pure cultures of the pelagic mesothermic C. symbiosum[6] and Nitrosopumilus maritimus,[8] as well as the moderately thermophilic Nitrososphaera gargensis[2] and the hyperthermophilic Candidatus Nitrosocaldus yellowstonii.

N. yellowstonii and N. gargensis disproved the previous consensus that crenarchaeol was specific to mesothermic Nitrososphaerota and suggests that it is found more broadly within the phylum.

Structurally, the molecule consists of two long hydrocarbon chains that extend through the cell membrane and are bound on each to glycerol through ether linkage.

Because GDGTs have two hydrophilic head groups, they form a lipid monolayer in the cell membrane instead of a bilayer, making GDGT-producing archaea exceptional among all clades of life.

[11] The cyclic moieties of GDGTs may also be an adaption to hyperthermal conditions,[6] and the number of rings in a GDGT's long hydrocarbon chains is temperature-dependent.

[17] GDGTs such as crenarchaeol can be analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry (HPLC/APCI-MS) following extraction and acid hydrolysis.