improvmenT of eaRth climAte understaNding from Signatures of calcIum and liThium Isotopes in carbONates

Descrizione del progetto

Comprendere gli isotopi del litio nei carbonati per ricostruire il clima

Il monitoraggio e la misurazione delle composizioni isotopiche del litio nei carbonati marini hanno svolto un ruolo fondamentale come proxy dell’intensità dell’alterazione continentale e come indicatore del paleoclima e del ciclo del carbonio del nostro pianeta. Ciononostante, la portata dell’incorporazione degli isotopi di litio nei carbonati non è stata ancora determinata accuratamente, né è stata stabilita per le principali vie di precipitazione dei carbonati. Il progetto TRANSITION, sostenuto dal programma di azioni Marie Skłodowska-Curie, studierà in che modo vari parametri abiotici e biotici influenzano le registrazioni sedimentarie dei carbonati e la loro evoluzione. A tal fine, esaminerà l’evoluzione mineralogica e chimica dei sistemi fluidi di carbonato di calcio amorfo, con l’obiettivo di ottenere ulteriori approfondimenti importanti.

Obiettivo

Lithium isotope compositions (δ7Li) of marine carbonates have been used as proxies of continental weathering intensity, and are viewed as major indicators of Earth’s paleoclimate and carbon cycle. A caveat, however, is that the extent of Li isotope incorporation in carbonates is poorly known, and has never been determined for a major carbonate precipitation pathway: non-classical crystallization via amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) precursor phases. Calcium isotope compositions (δ44Ca) are another novel – yet under constrained regarding ACC – environmental proxy measured from sedimentary carbonates. δ44Ca may provide key insights into secondary diagenetic processes affecting carbonates. The original objective of the TRANSITION project is to define benchmark geochemical information on coupled Li and Ca isotopes in carbonates, offering a reliable paleoclimatic proxy to decipher primary environmental information (continental weathering intensity) and secondary alteration. Through pioneering laboratory experiments focusing on the formation and transformation of ACC into crystalline carbonates, TRANSITION aims to establish how different abiotic-biotic parameters influence sedimentary carbonates isotopic record and how they evolve over time. Investigating the chemical and mineralogical evolutions of the fluid-ACC-carbonate system for a full year will also improve our understanding of ACC stability and non-classical precipitation pathways (with potential outcomes to improve CO2-storing technologies efficiency). The fellowship will be achieved in two expert labs: Graz (Austria, Secondment) for ACC experiments and mineralogy characterization and Bern (Switzerland, Beneficiary) for novel isotopic proxies. Perfectly suited for the MSCA program, the project will bolster an international and multi-disciplinary scientific network from which the fellow will directly benefit, together with cutting-edge technical and theoretical training in isotope geochemistry and mineralogy.