The equipment project”RIOCAS” (Isotopic ratio of oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and sulphur in wood and other organic plant compounds) is supported by the “Domaine d’Intérêt Majeur “Matériaux Anciens et Patrimoniaux”” (DIM-MAP) from the Ile de France region under the 2021 call for projects.
The aim of the RIOCAS project is to increase the capacity and analytical performance of dendro-isotopy in the Île-de-France region. It involves the acquisition of an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) coupled to a high-temperature elemental analyser (TC/EA) to analyse the isotopic composition of oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and sulphur (δ18O, δ13C, δ15N and δ34S) in cellulose, wood and other plant organic matter.
The project partners, from 7 research laboratories in the Paris region and a consultancy firm, plan to use the TC/EA – IRMS in a number of large-scale projects. Among other projects, they plan to carry out a dendro-isotopic reconstruction of the medieval climate in the Ile-de-France region and to assess the potential of dendro-anthracology in palaeoclimatology, using the charred wood of Notre-Dame de Paris. They will also take advantage of the gains in productivity and reliability offered by this new equipment to explore the potential of the isotopic approach in palaeobotany and palynology. The resulting databases will be open to the scientific community for multidisciplinary applications. Finally, this new equipment will enable innovative developments that will open up new themes in the environmental field.
This project is the result of a partnership between the AASPE, ArchAm, ArScAn, CR2P, HNHP and METIS laboratories, and the Dendrotech company.
In addition to the DIM Matériaux anciens et patrimoniaux, the project benefits from financial support from the LSCE, the PANOPLY platform, the ArchAm, ArScAn, AASPE, CR2P, HNHP and METIS laboratories and the Dendrotech company.
