Objective Analysis of the geologic record shows that Earth’s temperature raised suddenly, and plunged precipitously, many times in its history. These abrupt climate transitions presumably occurred because tipping points in the climate system were exceeded. What is the nature of these tipping points? About 34 million years ago one of these abrupt changes occurred, when Earth's climate shifted from a relatively ice-free world to one with glacial conditions and substantial ice sheets on Antarctica. How global climate and the ocean’s temperatures at surface and in the deep changed during this climate transition remains poorly understood, and evidence for the development of Northern Hemisphere polar ice sheets is controversial. The goal of CLImBP is to investigate this climate transition through the application of the new and powerful paleo-thermometer: clumped isotopes in carbonates. CLImBP will apply this method on benthic and planktonic foraminifera from samples across Eocene-Oligocene climate transition and accurately reconstruct changes in sea-surface and deep-sea temperatures. These reconstructions will be used to test climate model simulations of this transition and improve our understanding of tipping points in the climate system, which is important for the comprehension of modern global climate change. Fields of science humanitieshistory and archaeologyhistorynatural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistryinorganic compoundsnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF - Marie-Curie Action: "Intra-European fellowships for career development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF) Coordinator EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH EU contribution € 192 622,20 Address Raemistrasse 101 8092 Zuerich Switzerland See on map Region Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Zürich Zürich Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Stefano Bernasconi (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data