Objective
Dolomite is besides calcite the most abundant carbonate mineral in the geological record. However, the conditions and mechanisms of its formation are poorly understood. Most dolomite is considered to have formed at elevated temperatures when sediments became deeply buried over geological time scales. Abundant dolomite occurs in shallow marine carbonate deposits of the ancient Triassic Tethys margin, which today forms part of the Eastern and Southern Alps. Hitherto evidence indicates that some of these dolomites are not of a burial origin, but are penecontemporaneous; i.e. they formed during or shortly after sedimentation. Such dolomites apparently formed in extremely shallow water under the influence of evaporative conditions, similar to modern examples of evaporation-induced dolomite formation. Nevertheless, the environmental conditions that prevailed in the Triassic environments remain poorly constrained.
The proposed study aims at mapping penecontemporaneous dolomite in the field. State-of-the-art methodology at the University of Vienna, such as a scanning electron microscope with focused ion beam milling, will allow to differentiate individual dolomite mineral phases at sub-micron scale. Stable isotope ratios of oxygen, calcium, strontium, boron, carbon, and sulphur will be measured to trace past temperature, alkalinity, pH, and carbon sources. Moreover, laser ablation mass spectrometry will allow to measure calcium and strontium isotopes at the high spatial resolution required to characterize individual mineral phases.
This study represents a novel approach towards the reconstruction of the environmental conditions during the formation of penecontemporaneous dolomite – a process, which probably was among the most important processes of carbonate deposition through Earth’s history. It will shed light on the past carbon cycle and, thus, result in a better understanding of global geochemical cycling and ocean and atmosphere dynamics through Earth history.
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 sedimentology
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry inorganic compounds
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry alkaline earth metals
- natural sciences physical sciences optics microscopy electron microscopy
- natural sciences chemical sciences analytical chemistry mass spectrometry
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Programme(s)
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Topic(s)
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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.
Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF
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Funding Scheme
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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.
Coordinator
1010 Wien
Austria
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.