Project ELEMIN was conducted by MC-IF S. Viehmann, PhD with supervisor Prof. P. Meister and in collaboration with Prof. C. Koeberl at the University of Vienna. Dissemination and exploitation of data and research results strictly follow the Horizon 2020 guidelines. Research results of project ELEMIN were and will be published in internationally renowned high-impact journals (see below) and were presented at national, international, public conferences and during workshops and invited talks in China, Australia and Germany. All data are available at from the corresponding author upon request and are available within the manuscripts. A detailed overview describing the publications within project ELEMIN summarize the work performed during the course of this project:
Viehmann et al. (2018, Chem. Geol), Kraemer et al. (2019, Ore Geol. Rev.) & Viehmann (2018, Geoscience): These publications apply rare earth element (REE) and radiogenic isotope studies (Hf-Nd-Sr) to chemical sediments to exploit the potential of these geochemical tools to determine depositional conditions and source of elements in ancient fluids. These publications report the presence of high-temperature hydrothermal fluids in ancient depositional milieus and precisely determine the source of elements (mafic vs. felsic sources). Decoupled Hf-Nd isotopes in seawater further indicate that emerged continental crust has been available for weathering and erosion processes already 2.7 billion years ago.
Viehmann et al. (2019, Gond. Res.): Combined petrographic (SEM) and geochemical (trace element and stable Cd isotope compositions) investigations of dome-shaped and conophyton-type stromatolites from the Mesoproterozoic Paranoá Group were deposited in an epicontinental lagoon restricted from the open ocean. The stromatolites received their elemental composition from weathering and erosion of local hinterland rocks and continental shelf in exchange with open seawater. For the first time, we reconstructed redox conditions in an ancient microbial mat at the centimeter scale. We reconstructed the (bio)geochemical metal cycling processes, and the availability of nutrients within the microbial mat ca. 1 billion year ago.
Viehmann et al. (submitted to Precamb. Res.): Carbonates of the 3.34 Ga old Strelley Pool stromatolites show the oldest Sm-Nd age measured so far in stromatolites. Silica phases in the stromatolites and adjacent crystal fan carbonates show Paleoproterozoic and Late Archean formation ages suggesting post-depositional alteration/ formation of these phases. Combined REE and Nd isotopes of stromatolitic carbonates indicate that continental weathering and hydrothermal activity both affected local seawater chemistry supporting microbial life on a shallow marine platform.
Meister et al. (in prep for Facies): Mapping campaigns, petrographic, mineralogical and stable C-O investigations of an alternating clastic-carbonate sedimentary succession in the Triassic German Basin provide new insight into the conditions and formation processes of authigenic carbonates in ancient evaporative settings. These sedimentary structures and isotopic compositions indicate primary precipitation of the dolomite in a large playa lake.
