Objective
Atmospheric CO2 concentrations have risen rapidly since pre-industrial times and our current climate is not yet in equilibrium with this; it will change. To obtain insight in the type and magnitude of this change and to validate climate models used to project these changes, we need to look back at past climates. The most recent time in Earth history with CO2 levels that were similar to today is the Pliocene. The Pliocene thus provides a unique window into a world that exhibited many of the climate characteristics that we might experience. These are documented by proxies locked into sedimentary archives, especially marine sediments. It remains a challenge for palaeoclimatologists, however, to quantify past terrestrial temperatures. I have recently developed a novel proxy for quantitative annual mean air temperature reconstruction, which is based on the distribution of membrane lipids synthesised by soil bacteria. Upon soil erosion these molecules are transported to the marine realm where they become part of the marine sedimentary archive.
The PlioProx project aims at a quantitative reconstruction of continental temperatures and latitudinal temperature gradients for the Pliocene. This will be achieved by applying this new palaeothermometer to high resolution marine sediment records near river outflows to generate river-basin integrated records of continental air temperature. This approach also allows for a direct comparison to reconstructed sea surface temperatures. Using globally distributed sediment records, latitudinal temperature gradients will be constructed which will be compared to moisture transport and rainout, reconstructed using stable hydrogen isotopes from plant wax lipids. Results will provide vital new insights in climate evolution on land under elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations. It will also contribute to improving the next generation earth system models that are used to predict future climate.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- humanities history and archaeology history
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software software applications simulation software
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2012-StG_20111012
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
3584 CS Utrecht
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.