Research group presentation Royal Museum for Central Africa - Section of Mineralogy and Petrography Presentation The Royal Museum
for Central Africa is a federal research institute. The Mineralogy
and Petrography Section of the RMCA is active in geochemistry,
with a strong concern in biogeochemistry since the early 1990s
mostly through development of new proxies. A proxy (or tracer)
is a measurable descriptor which stands in for desired (but unobservable)
variables like past temperature, upwelling and water masses,
nutrient use of phytoplankton, bacterial remineralisation of
carbon... The team has been involved in isotopes, trace and major
elements analyses in waters, carbonate (mollusks, sclerosponges)
and particles. It has also particularly good field knowledge
throughout its focus on study areas located in difficult environments,
such as Central Africa and the Southern Ocean. The section has
unique analytical facilities (shared with the two universities
of Brussels, VUB and ULB): clean room, plasma spectrophotometer
(ICP-AES), several plasma mass spectrometers, including a laser
ablation system (LA-ICP-MS, HR-ICP-MS, MC-ICP-MS). Its most unique,
recently developed, analytical know-how consists of (but is not
restricted to) measuring silicon isotopes with MC-ICP-MS. Research
topics are mainly directed towards environmental biogeochemistry,
carbon and silicon cycles via a multi-proxy approach under the
framework of several Belgian and European networks. Activities Research activities involve the preparation of and participation to sampling campaigns, sample processes and analyses, communication of results in international symposia and via scientific publication in peer-reviewed journals. We also disseminate our expertise to the large public, policy makers and students. Finally our expertise on environmental chemistry is available for specific projects and analyses on various types of samples (soils, industrial waste and materials, archaeology...). List of projects
Research Group Team
Publication list Peer-reviewed articles Cardinal D., F. Dehairs, T. Cattaldo & L. André (2001) Geochemistry of suspended particles in the Subantarctic and Polar Front Zones south of Australia: Constraints on export and advection processes. Journal of Geophysical Research, 106: 31,637-31,656. website Cardinal D., L.Y. Alleman, J. De Jong, K. Ziegler & L. André (2003) Isotopic composition of silicon measured by multicollector plasma source mass spectrometry in dry plasma mode. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 18: 213-218. website Cardinal D., N. Savoye, T.W. Trull, L. André, E.E. Kopczynska & F. Dehairs (2005) Variations of carbon remineralisation in the Southern Ocean illustrated by the Baxs proxy. Deep-Sea Research Part I, 52: 355-370. website Cardinal D., L.Y. Alleman, F. Dehairs, N. Savoye, T.W. Trull & L. André (2005) Relevance of silicon isotopes to Si-nutrient utilization and Si source assessment in Antarctic waters. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 19: GB2007. website Fagel N., F. Dehairs, L. André, G. Bareille & C. Monnin (2002) Ba distribution in surface Southern Ocean sediments and export production estimates. Paleoceanography, 17, 1011. website Reports Dehairs F. et al. (2003) An integrated approach to assess carbon dynamics in the Southern Ocean. In: S. Cashetto (Ed.), Scientific results of the Belgian Scientific Research Programme on the Antarctic - Phase 4 (1997-2001): Vol. I: Marine Biota and Global Change, 135pp. Wollast R., J.-P. Vanderborght
et al. (2005) The role of the ocean in global change. In : G.
den Ouden and M. Vanderstraeten (Eds.), Belgian global change
research 1990-2002: Assessment and integration report, 111-134.
website Complementary resources about this research group: |
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