ABOUT ME
Dr. Nico Kueter
Hi!
I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Climate Geology Group at the ETH Earth Science Department in Zurich, Switzerland. My main research field is experimental isotope geochemistry that is strongly influenced by a passion for classical geology and mineralogy. I am currently working on the extraction of COH fluids from rocks and the experimental synthesis and equilibration of methane and carbonates for clumped isotope analysis. From 2019-2022, I was as a Carnegie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Earth and Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington D.C, where I studied hydrogen isotope fractionation mechanisms inside silicate melts with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and the carbon isotope composition of diamonds with classical off-line combustion - IRMS techniques. My focus lies on the stable isotope analysis of light elements such as Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen and Oxygen. I am particularly interested in the fundamental reactions and processes that cause light stable isotope fractionation and exchange between materials, telling us about the origin and pathways of volatiles on Earth and other planets. Though trained in geology & petrology, my research interests are not restricted to the solid Earth, but also include the volatile evolution of planetary hydro- and atmospheres. Thus, my research usually expands into other disciplines such as organic and atmospheric chemistry, and material sciences. A large part of my work involves (re-)designing experimental and analytical setups to address new, challenging research questions. At Carnegie-EPL, I ran a custom-build gas preparation lab allowing for the inductive UHT combustion and CO2 recovery of carbon-bearing materials such as diamond, cohenite or steel. In 2018, I received my doctorate from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, for the work on high-temperature fractionation mechanisms of carbon isotopes. For more than 4 years, I managed the hydrothermal pressure vessel (“cold-seal”) laboratory and the self-designed gas preparation lab. My MSc (ETH) was on a self-designed project about the origin of alluvial diamonds from Indonesian-Borneo (Kalimantan). In the meantime, I am a big fan of fossil hunting (my passion), traveling, and discovering (for me) foreign cuisines. Thanks for reading! Enjoy your day :) |
Quartz phenocrysts and fluid exsolution bubbles in a water-rich sodium silicate melt, which was slowly-quenched to glass.
Secondary electron image of a globule of amorphous carbon showing surface recrystallisation to graphite. The recrystallisation process took place in a carbonate melt and was accompanied by carbon isotope exchange between the melt and the newly-formed graphite.
Knorringite-Pyrope garnet inclusion in an alluvial diamond from Southeast Kalimantan, Indonesia. During million-years of residence in a sediment next to alpha-particle radiating minerals, the diamond developed brown radiation spots on its surface.
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Some Recent & Previous Projects
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CONTACT ME
nico.kueter(-at-)erdw.ethz.ch
Geological Institute - ETH Zurich
Sonneggstrasse 5
8092 Zurich - Switzerland
Geological Institute - ETH Zurich
Sonneggstrasse 5
8092 Zurich - Switzerland
Sunrise at Brandberg Mountain, Namibia
