Diverse origins of “soil marker” bacteriohopanepolyols in marine oxygen deficient zones

•“Soil marker” bacteriohopanepolyols detected in all investigated ODZ settings.•Water column distribution and fluxes consistent with in situ chemotrophic production.•Individual “soil marker” BHPs have different and/or shared biogeochemical niches.•Presence of “soil marker” BHPs alone is not diagnostic for soil input.•Effect on Rsoil index is small.