HEStaff exchange2025–2029

DETECTOR · Dating rEcent climaTE Changes To fOrecast the futuRe

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2025-09-01 → 2029-08-31
EU contribution
€1,367,730
Participants
12
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-SE

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Project objective

Climate change and human history are closely linked. Paleoclimate studies are essential for improving climate models, particularly for the 60–12 ka period, characterized by glacial conditions and rapid millennial-scale climatic fluctuations. Investigating these oscillations is crucial for assessing modern global warming and its impact on extreme weather events and sea level rise. Conversely, the millennial-scale climate shifts after 12 ka drove mass migrations and economic transformations, leaving significant archaeological evidence.Paleoclimate studies and archaeology share methodologies like stratigraphic event definition and absolute dating, which are based mainly on 14C (up to 50 ka for organic materials) and luminescence techniques (up to 1 My for quartz and k-feldspar-rich samples).This study focuses on niche environments like islands and desert regions. The former preserve strong evidence of climate change and human activity, particularly in the Mediterranean, while the latter are considered modern analogues of past glacial arid conditions. Key sites include Sardinia, Crete, Cyprus, Balearic, Canaries islands and deserts in California, Texas and Argentina. DETECTOR builds on the IN-TIME project (IN-SITU INSTRUMENT FOR MARS AND EARTH DATING APPLICATIONS, G.A. 823934), which developed and validated a portable luminescence dating prototype (compared to lab analyses) through Alma Sistemi S.r.l. and the Luminescence Laboratory of the University of Sassari, Italy.Proposed studies will include field campaigns using updated portable instruments for in situ absolute dating. Measurements will be cross-verified with laboratory analyses to assess the instrument’s functionality, operational reliability, and performance, paving the way for a novel scientific instrumentation product. DETECTOR unite the expertise of partners from Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Greece, USA & Argentina.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • ALMA SISTEMI SRL · GUIDONIA MONTECELIO RMCoordinatorItaly
  • CONSEJO NACIONAL DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS Y TECNICAS (CONICET) · Buenos AiresArgentina
  • Geomars · SassariItaly
  • LITHICA SCCL · Santa Coloma De FarnersSpain
  • NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ""DEMOKRITOS"""" · Agia ParaskeviGreece
  • POLYTECHNEIO KRITIS · CHANIAGreece
  • QUANTUM INNOVATION IKE · CHANIAGreece
  • THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM · AustinUnited States
  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA · RomaItaly
  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI SASSARI · SassariItaly
  • UNIVERSITAT DE LES ILLES BALEARS · PALMA DE MALLORCASpain
  • UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS · NicosiaCyprus

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union