Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/C507529/1
High-resolution isotope investigation of palaeoatmospheric carbon dioxide levels: The Neoproterzoic climatic extremes as a test study.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor S A Kasemann, University of Edinburgh, Sch of Geosciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Edinburgh, Sch of Geosciences
- Science Area:
- Marine
- Earth
- Atmospheric
- Overall Classification:
- Earth
- ENRIs:
- Global Change
- Science Topics:
- Earth Surface Processes
- Ocean - Atmosphere Interact.
- Palaeoenvironments
- Climate & Climate Change
- Abstract:
- The level and evolution of atmospheric carbon dioxide throughout Earth's history are key issues for palaeoclimate reconstructions, especially during times of extreme climate change such as those that marked the Neoproterozoic (1000 - 545 Ma). Some of the best preserved and exposed sections containing evidence for the extreme climatic changes of Neoproterozoic time are carbonate rocks of the Otavi Group along the southern Congo Craton in northwestern Namibia. This group of rocks provides a detailed transect of a wide range of depositional settings and water depths and contains an exceptional record of the inferred Neoproterozoic icehouse and greenhouse worlds as well as of the climatically 'normal' world. The aim of this project is to use high-precision and -spatial resolution boron, calcium, carbon and oxygen isotope analyses in these well-preserved Neoproterozoic carbonate rocks to isotopically fingerprint ancient seawater and use them as proxies to: a) document variations in palaeo-pH and weathering rates, and b) quantify palaeo-atmospheric carbon dioxide changes. These data will be used to assess the geochemical conditions that characterise major climatic perturbations and to test hypotheses for rapid and extreme global climate change in the Neoproterozoic. They will also provide a robust analogue for use in comparing and contrasting the nature, style and cause of Earth System changes recorded in the geological past to those in the future and improve predictions of future climate change using Global Climate Models.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/C507529/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- New Investigators Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- New Investigators
This grant award has a total value of £51,763
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - T&S | Total - Other Costs |
|---|---|
| £9,029 | £42,735 |
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