ERC Advanced Grant of the European Research Council for Geochemist Friedhelm von Blanckenburg

Geochemist Friedhelm von Blanckenburg, a scientist at Freie Universität Berlin and head of Section 3. Earth Surface Geochemistry at the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centrr for Geosciences, has been awarded a prestigious Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The grant is worth 2.3 million euros over five years. With its ERC Advanced Grant format, the European Research Council enables outstanding established scientists to conduct pioneering research. The ERC project DEVENDRA (' D eciphering the E ffect of V egetation and E rosion on basalt and carbonate weathering by N ovel D enudation R ate A pproaches') will start in January 2023 and run for five years. Its focus: a new isotope geochemical method to measure the rate at which basalt and carbonate rocks are transformed into soil by weathering and then get eroded. In a natural cycle, the chemical weathering of rocks on the Earth's surface draws down atmospheric carbon dioxide.