ISOTOPIC TOOLS AS NOVEL SENSORS OF EARTH SURFACE RESOURCES
Activity Code: FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN
Project Reference: 608069
Coordinator:Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam - Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ
Description:
Soil, water, and precious metals are major natural resources present at the EarthA/s terrestrial surface and their efficient management is essential for future sustainable development. Their availability is regulated by massive biogeochemical transformations that take place as the chemical elements move from rock to soil, into plants, through ground water, into river water, and into ore deposits. These precious resources are currently being exploited to an extent that is unprecedented in the history of our planet. We will make use of recent technological advances, in the form of novel mass-spectrometric methods, that have the as-yet unrealised capacity to make fundamental advances in understanding the formation of these resources.
The understanding developed with these new tools will ultimately guide the sustainable exploitation of Earth surface environments. We will train young researchers in these ISOtopic tools as NOvel Sensors of Earth surface resources (IsoNose) through this European Initial Training Network. Long-term collaboration to train this new generation of scientists will be initiated by instrument manufacturers, academic specialists in method development and applications, private sector participants from the environmental, material certification, and metal ore resources fields. The researchers will use IsoNose as a platform to lead this emerging field into new areas, including the geosciences, environmental forensics, biomedical sciences, and mineral resource prospecting.
Partners:
- Bundesanstalt Fuer Materialforschung Und –Pruefung, Deutschland
- Natural Environment Research Council, United Kingdom
- The Provost, Fellows, Foundation Scholars & The Other Members Of Board Of The College Of The Holy & Undivided Trinity Of Queen Elizabeth Near Dublin, Ireland
- Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique, France
- Institut De Physique Du Globe De Paris, France
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (Bremen) Gmbh, Deutschland
- Boliden Tara Mines Limited, Ireland