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 natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriologyhumanitieshistory and archaeologyhistorynatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculeslipidsnatural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwaresoftware applicationssimulation software Programme(s) FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) ERC-SG-PE10 - ERC Starting Grant - Earth system science Call for proposal ERC-2012-StG_20111012 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant Coordinator UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT Address Heidelberglaan 8 3584 CS Utrecht Netherlands See on map Region West-Nederland Utrecht Utrecht Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Principal investigator Johannes Weijers (Dr.) Administrative Contact Bas Leeflang (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window EU contribution No data Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT Netherlands EU contribution € 1 500 000,00 Address Heidelberglaan 8 3584 CS Utrecht See on map Region West-Nederland Utrecht Utrecht Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Principal investigator Johannes Weijers (Dr.) Administrative Contact Bas Leeflang (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data
