Project description
How sulfur in deep Earth shaped planetary habitability
Sulfur may seem like a minor element inside Earth but is actually a major player behind everything – from deep volcanic activity to the chemical origins of life itself. However, its behaviour deep below the shallow mantle remains poorly understood. The ERC-funded S-CAPE project will explore how sulfur-bearing compounds transform under different conditions, ranging from meteoritic impacts to modern mantle environments. Researchers will employ laser-driven shocks and diamond anvil cells at state-of-the-art synchrotron facilities to analyse these high-pressure, high-temperature chemical shifts in real time. By mapping how deep sulfur transforms in lab-made and natural samples, S-CAPE will show how it shaped Earth’s chemistry and early life. Project findings will reshape understanding of planetary evolution and the potential for life across the solar system.
Objective
Sulphur, though often considered a minor constituent of the Earth’s interior, is a key driver of geological, geochemical, and biological processes. While large amounts of this element segregated into the core during planetary differentiation, a significant fraction resides in the crust and mantle, influencing redox processes, cycling of volatiles, and geodynamic evolution across vast timescales, from core formation to the onset of life. Yet, significant knowledge gaps remain, particularly concerning sulphur’s role below the shallow mantle.
The S-CAPE project aims to address these gaps by investigating experimentally and theoretically the transformation of sulphur-bearing compounds starting from the conditions occurring during Earth’s accretion, characterized by planetesimal and meteoritic impacts, to those of current geodynamic settings, including subduction and modern mantle environments. We will capture for the first time both equilibrium and transient processes at extreme pressures and temperatures by combining static compression in laser-heated diamond anvil cells, and dynamic compression generated by laser-driven shocks. This synergy is made possible thanks to the full exploitation of state-of-the-art synchrotron and X-ray free-electron laser facilities, which enable unprecedented real-time in situ structural and chemical analyses at extreme conditions.
By systematically mapping sulphur’s structural, electronic, and chemical transformations in both simplified synthetic and complex natural systems, S-CAPE will reveal how the deep sulphur cycle governs Earth’s redox dynamics, drives pathways of volatile elements, and possibly promoted the formation of prebiotic building-blocks of life. Besides refining our understanding of Earth’s interior, the results of S-CAPE are expected to revolutionize our perspective of how sulphur shaped planetary evolution and how it may foster or restrict potential habitability throughout the Solar System.
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 physical sciences astronomy planetary sciences
- 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.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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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-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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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.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-COG
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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.
20126 Milano
Italy
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