
Dr Christopher Coath
B.A.(Cantab.), Ph.D.(Cantab.)
Expertise
Isotope measurements by MC-ICPMS. Mass spectrometry hardware and technique development. Numerical methods and uncertainties especially in relation to isotope ratio measurements.
Current positions
Senior Research Fellow
School of Earth Sciences
Contact
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Research interests
I study the evolution of the early solar system. Isotopic characterisation of primitive meteorites provides insights into stellar inputs to the proto-solar nebula and hence the astrophysical context in which the solar system formed.
Short-lived radio nuclides, extant in the early solar system, can provide constraints on the timing of formation and differentiation of the earliest solids in the solar system and constrain nebula heterogeneity.
Central to my interest in this work is the development of new techniques and instrumentation to advance the field such as the collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific to build 'Proteus', a collision-cell multicollector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Current technique development includes a novel 'double-spike' method for making accurate isotope ratio measurements on 3-isotope systems such as magnesium and silicon.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Characterising the agents of major solar system isotopic heterogeneity
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Earth SciencesDates
01/04/2024 to 31/03/2027
Thesis supervisions
Publications
Recent publications
20/12/2024Detrital K-feldspar as a novel archive of continental crustal evolution using coupled in situ Rb–Sr dating and Pb isotope analysis
Chemical Geology
High-precision, mass dependent Si isotope measurements via the critical mixture double-spiking technique
Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry
Diet, cellular, and systemic homeostasis control the cycling of potassium stable isotopes in endothermic vertebrates
Metallomics
Seasonal cycles of biogeochemical fluxes in the Scotia Sea, Southern Ocean
Biogeosciences
Silicon Isotopes Highlight the Role of Glaciated Fjords in Modifying Coastal Waters
Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences