Objective
The deposition of atmospheric dust is thought to provide nutrients that are essential for phytoplankton growth in large areas of the ocean, with implications for primary production and remaining oceanic food chain, as well as for the ocean's biological carbon pump. Amongst the main primary producers in open-ocean oligotrophic waters are the coccolithophores. By also including more opportunistic taxa that quickly respond to short-term changes linked to nutrient input, and by being both photosynthetic and calcifying, coccolithophores provide interesting perspectives as indicators of ocean fertilization by dust, and its contribution to the organic and inorganic oceanic carbon pumps. Given the huge amounts of Saharan-dust blown into and over the equatorial North Atlantic, a region where nitrogen fixation is co-limited by Fe and P, it is only likely to expect that dust will act as nutrient supplier for marine phytoplankton. Here, I propose to investigate the effects of Saharan dust deposition on the cell production, species composition, carbonate production and coccolith-Sr/Ca ratios on coccolithophore populations across the equatorial North Atlantic. The study will be based on seawater samples covering the entire photic layer and sediment trap samples collected between NW Africa and the Caribbean, complemented by a coccolithophore culturing exploring the response of key coccolithophore species to dust input. As the transatlantic array was lying directly underneath the largest dust plume originating from the African continent (12º N), and two events of dust deposition were clearly recorded during the sampling cruise, DUSTCO provides a unique in situ opportunity to investigate the potential of Saharan dust as a fertilizer. Ongoing multidisciplinary research in the region, offers an excellent context for this study. The obtained findings will be used to develop a dust-related coccolithophore-based correlation/calibration function.
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.
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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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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
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.
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.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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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) H2020-MSCA-IF-2017
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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.
1749 016 Lisbon
Portugal
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.