Descrizione del progetto
Approfondire il ruolo dei flussi di microelementi sedimentari nella biogeochimica degli oceani e nel clima
I microelementi e gli isotopi in traccia (TEI, trace elements and isotope) partecipano ai cicli terrestri del carbonio e dell’ossigeno e sono importanti per lo studio del sistema oceanico e del modo in cui esso interagisce con altri componenti del sistema Terra. È pertanto essenziale integrare i TEI nei modelli globali d’avanguardia per prevedere in modo migliore i futuri cambiamenti nella biogeochimica degli oceani e nel clima. Tuttavia, l’inadeguata comprensione degli scienziati in merito ai flussi dei pozzi e delle sorgenti dei TEI nell’interfaccia sedimento-acqua ha ostacolato questo sforzo. Il progetto SedTraceFlux, finanziato dall’UE, intende pertanto limitare i flussi di TEI sedimentari e fornire parametrizzazioni solide di tali flussi che siano adatte ai modelli globali. I TEI su cui si concentrerà saranno ferro, neodimio, zinco e i loro rispettivi isotopi. I risultati del progetto apporteranno vantaggi per i responsabili delle politiche in materia di oceani e clima dell’UE.
Obiettivo
Trace elements and isotopes (TEIs) are powerful tools for studying the ocean system and tracing its interaction with the other Earth System components. Many TEIs exert influence on the surface environment by participating in the global carbon and oxygen cycles. Incorporating TEIs into state-of-the-art global models is thus crucial to better predict future changes of ocean biogeochemistry and climate. This effort, however, is hampered by our limited understanding of the source and sink fluxes of TEIs across the sediment-water interface, which are recently hypothesised to play much greater roles in setting the distributions of TEIs in the ocean than previously assumed. Yet insufficient knowledge results in large uncertainties in model implementations of sedimentary fluxes, severely limiting the applications of marine TEIs. The objectives of SedTraceFlux are to constrain the sedimentary TEI fluxes and provide robust parameterizations of such fluxes suitable for global models. This project will focus on iron, neodymium, zinc and their respective isotopes, which are among the most useful TEI tools in oceanography. I will model the chemical speciation and the processes controlling the distributions of these TEIs in sediment pore water and solid phases. The resulting mechanistic parameterizations of sedimentary fluxes will be fine-tuned using Transport Matrix Methods in global biogeochemical modelling. The modelling effort will be complemented by generation of sedimentary Fe data from under-sampled locations. This project represents an ideal synergy between my ability in geochemical modelling and sediment geochemistry, and the expertise of the host group in a broad range of chemical, isotopic and global modelling approaches. It will enhance my innovative potential toward an independent researcher and strengthen the host’s international network and mobility. The results will also help inform the ocean and climate policy-making of the European Union.
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
8092 Zuerich
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