Project acronym DEVOCEAN
Project Impact of diatom evolution on the oceans
Researcher (PI) Daniel CONLEY
Host Institution (HI) LUNDS UNIVERSITET
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2018-ADG
Summary Motivated by a series of recent discoveries, DEVOCEAN will provide the first comprehensive evaluation of the emergence of diatoms and their impact on the global biogeochemical cycle of silica, carbon and other nutrients that regulate ocean productivity and ultimately climate. I propose that the proliferation of phytoplankton that occurred after the Permian-Triassic extinction, in particular the diatoms, fundamentally influenced oceanic environments through the enhancement of carbon export to depth as part of the biological pump. Although molecular clocks suggest that diatoms evolved over 200 Ma ago, this result has been largely ignored because of the lack of diatoms in the geologic fossil record with most studies therefore focused on diversification during the Cenozoic where abundant diatom fossils are found. Much of the older fossil evidence has likely been destroyed by dissolution during diagenesis, subducted or is concealed deep within the Earth under many layers of rock. DEVOCEAN will provide evidence on diatom evolution and speciation in the geological record by examining formations representing locations in which diatoms are likely to have accumulated in ocean sediments. We will generate robust estimates of the timing and magnitude of dissolved Si drawdown following the origin of diatoms using the isotopic silicon composition of fossil sponge spicules and radiolarians. The project will also provide fundamental new insights into the timing of dissolved Si drawdown and other key events, which reorganized the distribution of carbon and nutrients in seawater, changing energy flows and productivity in the biological communities of the ancient oceans.
Summary
Motivated by a series of recent discoveries, DEVOCEAN will provide the first comprehensive evaluation of the emergence of diatoms and their impact on the global biogeochemical cycle of silica, carbon and other nutrients that regulate ocean productivity and ultimately climate. I propose that the proliferation of phytoplankton that occurred after the Permian-Triassic extinction, in particular the diatoms, fundamentally influenced oceanic environments through the enhancement of carbon export to depth as part of the biological pump. Although molecular clocks suggest that diatoms evolved over 200 Ma ago, this result has been largely ignored because of the lack of diatoms in the geologic fossil record with most studies therefore focused on diversification during the Cenozoic where abundant diatom fossils are found. Much of the older fossil evidence has likely been destroyed by dissolution during diagenesis, subducted or is concealed deep within the Earth under many layers of rock. DEVOCEAN will provide evidence on diatom evolution and speciation in the geological record by examining formations representing locations in which diatoms are likely to have accumulated in ocean sediments. We will generate robust estimates of the timing and magnitude of dissolved Si drawdown following the origin of diatoms using the isotopic silicon composition of fossil sponge spicules and radiolarians. The project will also provide fundamental new insights into the timing of dissolved Si drawdown and other key events, which reorganized the distribution of carbon and nutrients in seawater, changing energy flows and productivity in the biological communities of the ancient oceans.
Max ERC Funding
2 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-10-01, End date: 2024-09-30
Project acronym F-IMAGE
Project Seismic Functional Imaging of the Brittle Crust
Researcher (PI) Michel CAMPILLO
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE GRENOBLE ALPES
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2016-ADG
Summary Despite the dramatic impact of earthquakes, the physics of their onset and the short-term behavior of fault are still poorly understood. Using existing high quality seismic observations, we propose to develop a novel functional imaging of the brittle crust to clarify not only structural properties but also the dynamics of faults. We will analyze spatio-temporal changes of elastic properties around fault zones to highlight the interplay between changes in the host rocks and fault slip. Imaging the damage structure around faults and its evolution requires new seismological methods. With novel methods to image the highly heterogeneous fault regions, we will provide multi-scale descriptions of fault zones, including their laterally variable thicknesses and depth dependence. In parallel we will image temporal changes of seismic velocities and scattering strength. External natural forcing terms (e.g. tides, seasonal hydrologic loadings) will be modeled to isolate the signals of tectonic origin. This will also allow us to monitor the evolving seismic susceptibility, i.e. a measure of the proximity to a critical state of failure. Improved earthquake detection techniques using ‘deep machine learning’ methods will facilitate tracking the evolution of rock damage. The imaging and monitoring will provide time-lapse images of elastic moduli, susceptibility and seismicity. The observed short-time changes of the materials will be included in slip initiation models coupling the weakening of both the friction and the damaged host rocks. Laboratory experiments will shed light on the transition of behavior from granular (shallow fault core) to cohesive (distant host rock) materials. Our initial data cover two well-studied fault regions of high earthquake probability (Southern California and the Marmara region, Turkey) and an area of induced seismicity (Groningen). The derived results and new versatile imaging and monitoring techniques can have fundamental social and economic impacts.
Summary
Despite the dramatic impact of earthquakes, the physics of their onset and the short-term behavior of fault are still poorly understood. Using existing high quality seismic observations, we propose to develop a novel functional imaging of the brittle crust to clarify not only structural properties but also the dynamics of faults. We will analyze spatio-temporal changes of elastic properties around fault zones to highlight the interplay between changes in the host rocks and fault slip. Imaging the damage structure around faults and its evolution requires new seismological methods. With novel methods to image the highly heterogeneous fault regions, we will provide multi-scale descriptions of fault zones, including their laterally variable thicknesses and depth dependence. In parallel we will image temporal changes of seismic velocities and scattering strength. External natural forcing terms (e.g. tides, seasonal hydrologic loadings) will be modeled to isolate the signals of tectonic origin. This will also allow us to monitor the evolving seismic susceptibility, i.e. a measure of the proximity to a critical state of failure. Improved earthquake detection techniques using ‘deep machine learning’ methods will facilitate tracking the evolution of rock damage. The imaging and monitoring will provide time-lapse images of elastic moduli, susceptibility and seismicity. The observed short-time changes of the materials will be included in slip initiation models coupling the weakening of both the friction and the damaged host rocks. Laboratory experiments will shed light on the transition of behavior from granular (shallow fault core) to cohesive (distant host rock) materials. Our initial data cover two well-studied fault regions of high earthquake probability (Southern California and the Marmara region, Turkey) and an area of induced seismicity (Groningen). The derived results and new versatile imaging and monitoring techniques can have fundamental social and economic impacts.
Max ERC Funding
2 434 743 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30
Project acronym IASI-FT
Project IASI - Flux and temperature
Researcher (PI) Cathy CLERBAUX
Host Institution (HI) CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2016-ADG
Summary IASI - Flux and temperature
July 2016 was Earth's warmest month on record. The first six months of 2016 were also the warmest six-month period since modern meteorology observations began. This, along with the recent so-called “hiatus” in the warming trend, and the Paris climate agreement, all attracted scientific and public attention as to how reliable the historical temperature record is, and to the level of confidence in future model climate projections. Although the role of satellites in observing the variability and change of the Earth system has increased in recent decades, remotely-sensed observations are still underexploited to accurately assess climate change fingerprints. The IASI - Flux and Temperature (IASI-FT) project aims at providing new benchmarks for top-of-atmosphere radiative flux and temperature observations using the calibrated radiances measured twice a day at any location by the IASI instrument on the suite of MetOp satellites.
The main challenge is to achieve the stringent accuracy and stability necessary for climate studies, particularly for climate trends. Building upon the expertise accumulated by my group during the last 10 years, I propose the development of innovative algorithms and statistical tools to generate climate data records at the global scale, of (1) spectrally resolved outgoing radiances, (2) land and sea skin surface temperatures, and (3) temperatures at selected altitudes. Time series of these quantities will be compared with in situ and other satellite observations if available, atmospheric reanalyses, and climate model simulations. The observed trends will be analyzed at seasonal and regional scales in order to disentangle natural (weather/dynamical) variability and human-induced climate forcings. This project, while clearly research-oriented, will lead towards an operational integrated observational strategy for the Earth climate system, given that the IASI program started in 2006 and will last until 2040 at least.
Summary
IASI - Flux and temperature
July 2016 was Earth's warmest month on record. The first six months of 2016 were also the warmest six-month period since modern meteorology observations began. This, along with the recent so-called “hiatus” in the warming trend, and the Paris climate agreement, all attracted scientific and public attention as to how reliable the historical temperature record is, and to the level of confidence in future model climate projections. Although the role of satellites in observing the variability and change of the Earth system has increased in recent decades, remotely-sensed observations are still underexploited to accurately assess climate change fingerprints. The IASI - Flux and Temperature (IASI-FT) project aims at providing new benchmarks for top-of-atmosphere radiative flux and temperature observations using the calibrated radiances measured twice a day at any location by the IASI instrument on the suite of MetOp satellites.
The main challenge is to achieve the stringent accuracy and stability necessary for climate studies, particularly for climate trends. Building upon the expertise accumulated by my group during the last 10 years, I propose the development of innovative algorithms and statistical tools to generate climate data records at the global scale, of (1) spectrally resolved outgoing radiances, (2) land and sea skin surface temperatures, and (3) temperatures at selected altitudes. Time series of these quantities will be compared with in situ and other satellite observations if available, atmospheric reanalyses, and climate model simulations. The observed trends will be analyzed at seasonal and regional scales in order to disentangle natural (weather/dynamical) variability and human-induced climate forcings. This project, while clearly research-oriented, will lead towards an operational integrated observational strategy for the Earth climate system, given that the IASI program started in 2006 and will last until 2040 at least.
Max ERC Funding
2 200 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30
Project acronym NOGAT
Project NOBLE GAS TRACING OF SOURCES AND SINKS OF VOLATILE ELEMENTS IN THE ATMOSPHERE
Researcher (PI) Bernard Marty
Host Institution (HI) CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary This proposal has the objective to greatly enhance our understanding of sources, sinks and processes fixing the composition of the atmosphere at different time periods of time, from 3.8 Gyr ago to Present. For achieving this goal, I shall develop the high precision analysis of noble gases, which are key tracers of atmospheric evolution.
The core of the proposal is : (i) the development of multi-collector mass spectrometry analysis of noble gas isotopes coupled with standard bracketing, aimed at reaching the per mil or better precision level, which will constitute a world premiere, (ii) the analysis of unique cometary samples, of ancient sediments already partly available at my laboratory, and of present-day air sampled at different geographical and altitudinal scales, (iii) the quantification of sources and sinks of atmospheric volatiles through the study of the fluxes of noble gas isotopes.
With this proposal, I develop a new and extremely competitive area of geochemistry, aimed at better understanding the early evolution of our planet habitability, as well as at improving our knowledge of fluxes of volatile elements triggering anthropogenic climate change. This proposal will establish the leadership of Europe in high precision geochemistry of exceptional tracers, the noble gases.
Summary
This proposal has the objective to greatly enhance our understanding of sources, sinks and processes fixing the composition of the atmosphere at different time periods of time, from 3.8 Gyr ago to Present. For achieving this goal, I shall develop the high precision analysis of noble gases, which are key tracers of atmospheric evolution.
The core of the proposal is : (i) the development of multi-collector mass spectrometry analysis of noble gas isotopes coupled with standard bracketing, aimed at reaching the per mil or better precision level, which will constitute a world premiere, (ii) the analysis of unique cometary samples, of ancient sediments already partly available at my laboratory, and of present-day air sampled at different geographical and altitudinal scales, (iii) the quantification of sources and sinks of atmospheric volatiles through the study of the fluxes of noble gas isotopes.
With this proposal, I develop a new and extremely competitive area of geochemistry, aimed at better understanding the early evolution of our planet habitability, as well as at improving our knowledge of fluxes of volatile elements triggering anthropogenic climate change. This proposal will establish the leadership of Europe in high precision geochemistry of exceptional tracers, the noble gases.
Max ERC Funding
2 281 806 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-01-01, End date: 2016-12-31
Project acronym REFINE
Project Robots Explore plankton-driven Fluxes in the marine twIlight zoNE
Researcher (PI) herve CLAUSTRE
Host Institution (HI) CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2018-ADG
Summary The scientific objective of REFINE is to understand and quantify the physical, biological and biogeochemical processes controlling the biological carbon pump, a key component of the oceanic CO2 sequestration. The oceanic twilight zone (TZ), which is located between the depths of 100 and 1000 m and represents 20% of the ocean's volume, is where these processes occur. Yet the TZ is not properly sampled during most ship-based oceanographic cruises and, because of its depths, it escapes satellite remote sensing. Hence the TZ is one of the least known environments on Earth. The functioning of the TZ is highly dependent on the flux of matter and energy coming from the overlying well-lit euphotic zone (EZ). I have developed the REFINE ground-breaking, robotic-based approach to address the physical, biological and biogeochemical linkages between the EZ and the TZ, with special emphasis on the roles of phyto and zooplankton communities. I will implement REFINE through the following four main coordinated actions:
• Development of a new generation of multidisciplinary vertically profiling floats, uniquely able to robotically address phyto and zooplankton community composition.
• Achievement of ~3 years robotic-based process studies in five oceanic zones, representative of the diversity of biogeochemical conditions and responses to climate change in the global ocean, over a continuum of temporal scales ranging from diel to interannual.
• In-depth analysis of the unique REFINE dataset to perform carbon flux budgets within the TZ, and understand the physical and plankton-driven mechanisms involved in the EZ-TZ linkage and their impacts on the resulting fate of organic carbon and fluxes to ocean depths.
• Upscaling of regional processes to the global ocean through the use of artificial intelligence methods, in particular by taking advantage of multisource observations from REFINE robots and earth observation satellites.
Summary
The scientific objective of REFINE is to understand and quantify the physical, biological and biogeochemical processes controlling the biological carbon pump, a key component of the oceanic CO2 sequestration. The oceanic twilight zone (TZ), which is located between the depths of 100 and 1000 m and represents 20% of the ocean's volume, is where these processes occur. Yet the TZ is not properly sampled during most ship-based oceanographic cruises and, because of its depths, it escapes satellite remote sensing. Hence the TZ is one of the least known environments on Earth. The functioning of the TZ is highly dependent on the flux of matter and energy coming from the overlying well-lit euphotic zone (EZ). I have developed the REFINE ground-breaking, robotic-based approach to address the physical, biological and biogeochemical linkages between the EZ and the TZ, with special emphasis on the roles of phyto and zooplankton communities. I will implement REFINE through the following four main coordinated actions:
• Development of a new generation of multidisciplinary vertically profiling floats, uniquely able to robotically address phyto and zooplankton community composition.
• Achievement of ~3 years robotic-based process studies in five oceanic zones, representative of the diversity of biogeochemical conditions and responses to climate change in the global ocean, over a continuum of temporal scales ranging from diel to interannual.
• In-depth analysis of the unique REFINE dataset to perform carbon flux budgets within the TZ, and understand the physical and plankton-driven mechanisms involved in the EZ-TZ linkage and their impacts on the resulting fate of organic carbon and fluxes to ocean depths.
• Upscaling of regional processes to the global ocean through the use of artificial intelligence methods, in particular by taking advantage of multisource observations from REFINE robots and earth observation satellites.
Max ERC Funding
3 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-10-01, End date: 2024-09-30
Project acronym SHRED
Project Survival of Hadean REmnants in a Dynamic mantle
Researcher (PI) Catherine CHAUVEL
Host Institution (HI) CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2018-ADG
Summary Plate tectonics drives the formation and destruction of crust and introduces surface material into the deep Earth, while mantle convection mixes materials back together, erasing their diversity. Geochemical heterogeneities in modern volcanics indicate the survival of Hadean (≈ 4.5 Ga) remnants, and their mare existence raises first-order questions: What is the nature of the material carrying the odd geochemical signatures? How can Hadean material survive in an actively convecting mantle? What are the physical properties of material that can be preserved for billions of years, and yet that can be entrained in mantle plumes? Can Hadean remnants be stored in the structures seismically imaged in the lowermost mantle? Answering these questions is the challenging aim of SHRED. I will define the location, dimensions, structure, physical nature and composition of the ‘storage site’ of old material and I will constrain the conditions necessary for the material to be sampled in hotspots.
To reach the goal, I will assemble a unique group of scientists that will combine the most innovative geochemical tools with the latest physical modeling of inner Earth. I will characterize the isotopic diversity of modern intraplate volcanism and develop new geochemical tools to determine the age and size of heterogeneities in mantle plumes. These observations represent key constraints for geophysical models that will unravel, in a fluid-dynamically consistent framework, the evolution of mantle heterogeneities. Innovative simulations with particle tracing will determine the geographical origin of upwelling material and evaluate its relationship to deep seismic structures. Simulations focussed on mantle mixing will explore the physical conditions required for the survival of heterogeneities on billion-year-time-scales. This unique combination of expertise will provide answers to decades-old questions raised independently in mantle geochemistry and mantle geophysics.
Summary
Plate tectonics drives the formation and destruction of crust and introduces surface material into the deep Earth, while mantle convection mixes materials back together, erasing their diversity. Geochemical heterogeneities in modern volcanics indicate the survival of Hadean (≈ 4.5 Ga) remnants, and their mare existence raises first-order questions: What is the nature of the material carrying the odd geochemical signatures? How can Hadean material survive in an actively convecting mantle? What are the physical properties of material that can be preserved for billions of years, and yet that can be entrained in mantle plumes? Can Hadean remnants be stored in the structures seismically imaged in the lowermost mantle? Answering these questions is the challenging aim of SHRED. I will define the location, dimensions, structure, physical nature and composition of the ‘storage site’ of old material and I will constrain the conditions necessary for the material to be sampled in hotspots.
To reach the goal, I will assemble a unique group of scientists that will combine the most innovative geochemical tools with the latest physical modeling of inner Earth. I will characterize the isotopic diversity of modern intraplate volcanism and develop new geochemical tools to determine the age and size of heterogeneities in mantle plumes. These observations represent key constraints for geophysical models that will unravel, in a fluid-dynamically consistent framework, the evolution of mantle heterogeneities. Innovative simulations with particle tracing will determine the geographical origin of upwelling material and evaluate its relationship to deep seismic structures. Simulations focussed on mantle mixing will explore the physical conditions required for the survival of heterogeneities on billion-year-time-scales. This unique combination of expertise will provide answers to decades-old questions raised independently in mantle geochemistry and mantle geophysics.
Max ERC Funding
3 468 768 €
Duration
Start date: 2020-01-01, End date: 2024-12-31
Project acronym SILVER
Project Silver Isotopes and the Rise of Money
Researcher (PI) Francis ALBAREDE
Host Institution (HI) ECOLE NORMALE SUPERIEURE DE LYON
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2016-ADG
Summary Silver was the primary metal of economic exchange and military finances in ancient Mediterranean and Near-Eastern societies. Silver isotopes will help quantify monetization of these societies by identifying Ag mineral sources, monetary sinks, and its major transfer routes. High-precision stable Ag isotope analysis initiated in Lyon has shed new light on the provenance of silver coinage. This is because Ag isotopes are distinctive of coinage’s intrinsic value in contrast to traditionally-used Pb and Cu isotopes, which may characterize impurities or additives.
The common belief that PbS (galena) ores accounted most of the silver mined in the antique world will be tested. We will extract Ag from ores around the Mediterranean and test PbS prevalence over As and Sb sulfosalts and low-temperature ores with Ag, Cu, and Pb isotopes and trace elements.
Our work will address major questions: (i) understand the sources of unminted silver as a precursor to coinage; (ii) use Ag isotope fingerprinting of the earliest coinages of Athens to identify the contributions of Greek mines to the development of the world’s first democracy; (iii) map the Greek and Persian mines which sourced the treasure captured by Alexander the Great, and investigate the spread of its silver; (iv) study the causes of the monetary reform of the Roman Republic in 211 BC; and (v) model the silver cycle from mines to coinage and artefacts in its economic context.
In the short term this project represents radical scientific innovation, which will pave the way for a global and quantitative understanding of the history of monetary development in the ancient Mediterranean. In the long term, it will contribute to the emergence of a community of analysts, numismatists and economic historians with shared expertise about the monetization of ancient societies and their management of precious metal resources.
Summary
Silver was the primary metal of economic exchange and military finances in ancient Mediterranean and Near-Eastern societies. Silver isotopes will help quantify monetization of these societies by identifying Ag mineral sources, monetary sinks, and its major transfer routes. High-precision stable Ag isotope analysis initiated in Lyon has shed new light on the provenance of silver coinage. This is because Ag isotopes are distinctive of coinage’s intrinsic value in contrast to traditionally-used Pb and Cu isotopes, which may characterize impurities or additives.
The common belief that PbS (galena) ores accounted most of the silver mined in the antique world will be tested. We will extract Ag from ores around the Mediterranean and test PbS prevalence over As and Sb sulfosalts and low-temperature ores with Ag, Cu, and Pb isotopes and trace elements.
Our work will address major questions: (i) understand the sources of unminted silver as a precursor to coinage; (ii) use Ag isotope fingerprinting of the earliest coinages of Athens to identify the contributions of Greek mines to the development of the world’s first democracy; (iii) map the Greek and Persian mines which sourced the treasure captured by Alexander the Great, and investigate the spread of its silver; (iv) study the causes of the monetary reform of the Roman Republic in 211 BC; and (v) model the silver cycle from mines to coinage and artefacts in its economic context.
In the short term this project represents radical scientific innovation, which will pave the way for a global and quantitative understanding of the history of monetary development in the ancient Mediterranean. In the long term, it will contribute to the emergence of a community of analysts, numismatists and economic historians with shared expertise about the monetization of ancient societies and their management of precious metal resources.
Max ERC Funding
2 496 243 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30
Project acronym WAVETOMO
Project Imaging earth's internal structure using full waveform tomography
Researcher (PI) Barbara Romanowicz
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUT DE PHYSIQUE DU GLOBE DE PARIS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary Since January 2011, the PI holds a faculty position at the Collège de France, this proposal will facilitate transferring and re-establishing her research program at IPG in Paris. The goal of the proposed research program is to investigate earth’s deep structure and dynamics using advanced seismological forward and inverse modeling techniques. The primary focus is on global and continental scale mantle structure, with a secondary focus on the earth’s core. The primary objective is to develop high resolution three-dimensional models of the present day thermal and compositional structure of the mantle through the development of forward and inverse seismic waveform modeling approaches. This will be pursued along two directions that will eventually be combined: (a) Using a spectral-element-based seismic waveform modeling approach, develop high resolution seismic models of 3D elastic, isotropic and anisotropic , and anelastic structure of the earth’s mantle, with particular emphasis at the global scale on the lower mantle and, at the tectonic plate scale, on lithosphere-asthenosphere structure; (b) Develop an approach to invert full seismic waveforms, combined with other seismic constraints (such as travel times and normal mode eigenfrequencies) directly for 3D thermal and compositional structure of the mantle, using the best available constraints from mineral physics and geodynamics. A secondary objective is to constrain inner core structure and anisotropy using a combination of free oscillation splitting measurements and travel times and amplitudes of inner core sensitive body waves, with the goal of better characterizing the mantle versus inner core origin of observed anomalies currently attributed to inner core anisotropy.
Summary
Since January 2011, the PI holds a faculty position at the Collège de France, this proposal will facilitate transferring and re-establishing her research program at IPG in Paris. The goal of the proposed research program is to investigate earth’s deep structure and dynamics using advanced seismological forward and inverse modeling techniques. The primary focus is on global and continental scale mantle structure, with a secondary focus on the earth’s core. The primary objective is to develop high resolution three-dimensional models of the present day thermal and compositional structure of the mantle through the development of forward and inverse seismic waveform modeling approaches. This will be pursued along two directions that will eventually be combined: (a) Using a spectral-element-based seismic waveform modeling approach, develop high resolution seismic models of 3D elastic, isotropic and anisotropic , and anelastic structure of the earth’s mantle, with particular emphasis at the global scale on the lower mantle and, at the tectonic plate scale, on lithosphere-asthenosphere structure; (b) Develop an approach to invert full seismic waveforms, combined with other seismic constraints (such as travel times and normal mode eigenfrequencies) directly for 3D thermal and compositional structure of the mantle, using the best available constraints from mineral physics and geodynamics. A secondary objective is to constrain inner core structure and anisotropy using a combination of free oscillation splitting measurements and travel times and amplitudes of inner core sensitive body waves, with the goal of better characterizing the mantle versus inner core origin of observed anomalies currently attributed to inner core anisotropy.
Max ERC Funding
2 499 198 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-06-01, End date: 2017-05-31
