Project description
Tracing metals and ancient climates in Spanish soils
Europe’s energy future depends on the availability of critical metals for green technologies. Unfortunately, these resources often come from complex minerals whose detailed composition remains elusive due to their nanoscale features. Backed by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the TRANSITION project will develop NanoSIMS technology to analyse tiny mineral grains within Lower Cretaceous laterites, bauxites, and industrial by-products known as red muds from northeastern Spain. Specifically, it will map the precise distribution of critical metals and reconstruct ancient climate conditions. The goal is to boost Europe’s scientific capabilities and open new pathways for sustainable metal extraction and recycling. This breakthrough promises to enrich the geological record and support Europe’s shift towards a more sustainable and resource-secure future.
Objective
In line with the European Union strategies, the TRANSITION project aims to advance the scientific knowledge of past climates and evaluate critical metal resources. The first objective of the project is to reconstruct palaeoclimatic conditions by analysing the oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition of clay minerals and oxides in Lower Cretaceous aluminium-rich rocks (laterites and bauxites) from NE Spain. Current limitations in isotopic analysis due to the nanometric scale of these minerals will be overcoming by developing an advanced analytical procedure using NanoSIMS (nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry), thus enhancing Europe's capabilities in this area. TRANSITION also aligns with the European Commission's 2023 recognition of certain metals as critical for the energy transition, since laterites, bauxites, and red muds (bauxite by-products after industrial processing) are valuable sources of such metals. The second objective of the project is the NanoSIMS high-resolution grain-scale mapping of the minerals containing critical metals in laterites, bauxites and red muds , thereby determining the sub-micron distribution and specific location of these metals within these materials. The successful implementation of the project, based on the expertise in geological and analytical chemistry of the applicant and supervisor, respectively, will contribute to the research prowess of Europe. The projects outcome will be of global significance, inspiring geoscientists worldwide to use NanoSIMS and expand our understanding of past climatic conditions. TRANSITION will also contribute to complementing the Lower Cretaceous paleoclimatic record in Western Europe and will report fundamental data for the future design of critical metals extraction strategies, allowing to consider laterites and bauxites as a source of critical metals, as well as the recycling of red muds as repositories of these metals.
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 geochemistry
- engineering and technology environmental engineering waste management waste treatment processes recycling
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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.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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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) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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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.
75794 Paris
France
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.