New isotope systems for the geosciences

Objective

Isotope geochemistry provides much of our understanding of the workings of the Earth s system from core to clouds. This proposal requests funds to develop and apply new MC-ICPMS methods to tackle geochemical issues that are poorly understood and for which new archives and techniques should lead to significant breakthroughs. We will focus on 3 areas. First, we will study vanadium (V), which is analytically challenging because of its extreme composition but which could be immensely powerful for tracing changes in oxidation. The V isotopic composition of magnetite will be investigated as a proxy for oxidation state and to provide new constraints on the cause of precipitation of V rich magnetite ores in the world s biggest deposits. We will also measure V isotopic compositions of hydrocarbons to address (a) the origin of vanadyl-porphyrins with studies of soils and their associated plant material, (b) subsurface geoporphyrin transformations and the fate of V locked within sedimentary organic matter as it becomes buried and (c) the degree to which degradation in crude oils changes isotopic composition. Second, we will develop isotope geochemistry of fluid immobile elements. Titanium will be used to elucidate: (a) the fate of the lithosphere in convecting mantle; (2) mobility of immobile elements in sedimentary to metamorphic systems and (3) the scavenging history of seawater recorded in marine Fe-Mn crusts. Zirconium will be used with Ti to evaluate changes in physical weathering over time. Lastly, we will develop new kinds of detectors based on photon burst spectroscopy and resonance ionisation spectroscopy, to detect rare isotopes in the Earth. This will be of relevance to the measurement of cosmogenic nuclides and the record of putative supernova events in our galaxy.

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.

• natural sciences chemical sciences electrochemistry electrolysis
• natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry transition metals
• natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geochemistry isotope geochemistry
• natural sciences physical sciences optics spectroscopy
• natural sciences physical sciences astronomy stellar astronomy supernova

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

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.

• ERC-AG-PE10 - ERC Advanced Grant - Earth system science

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

ERC-2009-AdG
See other projects for this call

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.

ERC-AG - ERC Advanced Grant

Host institution

Beneficiaries (1)