Project description
Geochemical toolkit to reveal the formation of Mesozoic bonebeds
Fossil bonebeds provide valuable insights into ancient ecosystems and extinct vertebrate species. However, most existing datasets are primarily qualitative, making it difficult to distinguish the biological from the geological processes that shaped their formation. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the MORBID project will develop a geochemical toolkit to analyse rare earth elements in Mesozoic bone and tooth materials. Using micro-X-ray fluorescence and Laser Ablation ICP-MS, the project differentiates burial conditions and characterises depositional environments. It also applies uranium-lead geochronology to date fossil strata that currently lack precise age estimates. Based at the Natural History Museum in London, MORBID will build on existing expertise and resources to deepen our understanding of fossil vertebrate evolution.
Objective
Fossil bonebeds are unique windows into ancient ecosystems and the biology of extinct vertebrate species. However, most existing datasets from bonebeds are collected in a qualitative manner and cannot differentiate efficiently between the various biological and geological processes responsible for bonebed formation. MORBID aims to solve this conundrum, by developing a cutting-edge geochemical toolkit focusing on determining the concentrations of rare earth elements within well-preserved bone and tooth material from Mesozoic bonebeds. This rapid in-situ workflow combines non-destructive micro-X-ray fluorescence element mapping with quantitative Laser Ablation ICP-MS profiling at a micrometer level spatial resolution. Bonebed material is selected based on varying geological age and palaeoenvironment and the presence of outstanding taphonomic and paleobiological questions. Once fossilized, bone and teeth retain a geochemical fingerprint of their early diagenetic conditions. This information will be used in MORBID to differentiate between a rapid burial or a reworked bone assemblage, to characterize the depositional environment, and to provenance fossils of unknown location and stratigraphy. In addition, innovative in-situ uranium-lead geochronology is applied on well-preserved bioapatite material to obtain minimum depositional ages of poorly age-constrained fossil strata. MORBID will be based at the Natural History Museum in London and will benefit from the ample experience in-house in dinosaur palaeontology and rare earth element applications, combined with the access to a world-class fossil reptile collection and state-of-the-art laser ablation ICP-MS facilities. This excellent working environment will lead to the development of an independent tool to disentangle post-mortem alteration effects versus potential behavioural components of fossil vertebrates in a critical period of their evolution.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geochemistry
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geology geochronology
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences palaeontology
- natural sciences physical sciences optics laser physics
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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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.
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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
SW7 5BD London
United Kingdom
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