Project Grant 2544924
- This three-year Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) provides $586,098 to Texas A&M University to conduct research reconstructing ancient ocean temperatures during the Devonian-Mississippian climate transition. The university will test whether tropical ocean temperatures reached extremely high levels of 95-104 degrees Fahrenheit during the time of early animals. It will examine the role of rapid cooling in triggering biotic crises and explore...
- The National Science Foundation Division of Earth Sciences awarded Texas A&M University $472,945 on September 1, 2026, under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) to establish high-precision eruptive chronology for the Caribbean Large Igneous Province. The recipient will combine chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry U-Pb zircon geochronology with Re-Os isotope stratigraphy, platinum-group element geochemistry, zircon trace-element chemistry, and Hf isotope...
- This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) provides $248,863 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for research entitled "Collaborative Research: Ear Climate - Pairing Calcium and Clumped Isotopes to Inform Carbon Cycle and Climate Dynamics at the Onset of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age." The research will develop novel isotope proxies to understand the role of land plant evolution on organic carbon burial, atmospheric carbon dioxide,...
- The National Science Foundation Office of Integrative Activities awarded Texas A&M University $874,116 on March 15, 2026, to acquire a thermal-ionization mass spectrometer (TIMS) under the Integrative Activities program (CFDA 47.083). The TIMS will enable high-precision measurements of osmium and other isotopic systems in geologic and biogenic materials, supporting research into ocean anoxic events, hydrothermal fluid evolution, continental weathering, and the environmental effects of...
- This $293,010 National Science Foundation project grant under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) will fund research at The Ohio State University to develop novel isotope proxies that improve understanding of Earth's climate and carbon cycle dynamics at the onset of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age from 350 to 290 million years ago. The grantee will pair calcium and clumped isotope systems to test hypotheses regarding diagenetic influences on stable carbon isotopes used as proxies for carbon...
- This three-year project grant from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences program ($458,232) supports the theoretical and practical development of aragonite lithium-magnesium ratios as a proxy for reconstructing deep sea paleotemperatures. The University of Colorado will test four hypotheses to improve the theoretical underpinnings and field calibration of this emerging paleothermometer tool. Laboratory experiments will examine the temperature dependence of aragonite partition...
- This $234,972 National Science Foundation project grant, awarded under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050), will fund research to develop new paleotemperature records for North America. The University of Michigan, in collaboration with the University of New Mexico, will analyze cave deposits known as speleothems collected from various caves across the continental U.S. Using clumped isotope and strontium isotope analyses on approximately 200 mg subsamples, the researchers aim to determine...
- The National Science Foundation Division of Earth Sciences awarded the California Institute of Technology $664,670 on August 1, 2026, under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) to develop and apply isotope analysis methods for detecting dietary signals in biological tissues, with specific focus on nitrogen isotopic composition of the amino acid threonine as a biosignature of herbivory in insects, and to reconstruct Amazonian vegetation dynamics during a Pleistocene glacial cycle using...
- This $786,904 National Science Foundation project grant supports research to measure absolute paleo-surface temperatures for important past climate periods in the southwestern and northern United States. Funded under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050), the award will provide quantitative paleoclimate reconstructions using dual clumped isotope and strontium isotope analyses of speleothem samples from multiple caves. Researchers from the University of New Mexico and the University of Michigan...
- The National Science Foundation Division of Earth Sciences awarded the University of Hawaii $464,052 on August 1, 2026, under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) to conduct experimental research on elemental uptake in marine calcium carbonate minerals for paleoenvironmental applications. The project derives robust functional relationships between elemental incorporation into calcium carbonate and the physical and chemical conditions of mineral precipitation in seawater. Researchers will...
The National Science Foundation Division of Earth Sciences awarded Texas A&M University $427,960 on August 1, 2026, under the Geosciences program to conduct laboratory heating experiments and computational modeling that advance clumped-isotope thermometry of carbonate minerals. Clumped-isotope thermometry reconstructs ancient ocean temperatures and tracks thermal evolution in petroleum reservoirs and ore deposits, but accuracy is limited by incomplete understanding of how heat during burial or hydrothermal activity resets the isotope signature. The project addresses this gap through two complementary efforts. The first involves high-pressure heating experiments on abiotic aragonite at three temperatures and seven durations to establish precise Arrhenius kinetic parameters for solid-state resetting. The second performs reconnaissance heating experiments at two temperatures and four durations on diverse biotic and abiotic calcite and aragonite samples (brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods) spanning a range of fossil ages, elemental compositions, organic matter content, and water content. Measurements of water and organic matter will test whether rapid early resetting reflects water loss or organic-matter degradation. Concurrently, density functional theory and constrained ab initio molecular dynamics simulations will evaluate how substitution of lattice-bound ions and water affects resetting rates. Improved understanding of clumped-isotope resetting will enhance exploration for petroleum, natural gas, and critical minerals. Work is performed at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, with a period of performance from August 1, 2026, to July 31, 2028. The award is classified as a Project Grant.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $428.0k | 7/24/26 |