Project description
Understanding how the earth's timepiece is made
Geochronology, or the dating of the earth's materials and events, is essential to understanding our planet's history, including earthquakes, environmental changes, volcanic eruptions and the formation of mountains and continents. Dating is typically based on radioactive decay. The uranium-to-lead (U-Pb) decay process consists of two parallel pathways that run at different rates, providing a natural verification of results, and boundstone is often the sample of choice. A type of carbonate, it has emerged as an excellent geological 'timepiece' suited to U-Pb dating techniques, but it is a black box – we do not know much about it. The EU-funded CARBCHRON project is testing its hypothesis regarding boundstone formation. Experiments should elucidate detailed processes, leading to a better understanding and interpretation of its use as a geochronometre.
Objective
Recent analytical developments are reinvigorating the study of carbonate as a geochronometer in deep time (>1 Ma) using the U-Pb system. Boundstone, a type of carbonate rock made by the trapping and binding of carbonate sediment by microbial mats, is often sampled for use in U-Pb dating of carbonates. It has even been used as a reference material in recent studies. However, we lack a process-based understanding as to why boundstone works so well for geochronology, and which geological processes create the material we date. This work, supervised by Dr. Axel Gerdes at Goethe University Frankfurt, investigates these questions. This project tests a hypothesis, supported by early results, that microbially-induced carbonate precipitation under reducing conditions creates geochronologically viable early cements. This hypothesis will be tested by petrographically, geochemically, and geochronologically characterizing boundstones from Earth’s last 1 Ga. To test the accuracy and robustness of the boundstone chronometer, I then will compare boundstone dates with radiometric ages derived from zircon and black shales in two stratigraphic succesions: the Neoproterozoic of Oman and the Ordovician of Anticosti Island. First, boundstone samples will be characterized petrographically. High-throughput laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) will be used to geochemically and geochronologically characterize samples, a subset of which will advance to high-precision dating by isotope dilution (ID).
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.
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geology geochronology
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry inorganic compounds
- natural sciences chemical sciences analytical chemistry mass spectrometry
- natural sciences physical sciences optics laser physics
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.
-
H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
See all projects funded under this programme
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 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
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-2019
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
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.
60323 FRANKFURT AM MAIN
Germany
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.