Curator
of Geology
Christopher.Tacker@ncmail.net
(919) 733-7450, ext. 722
Ph.D.(Geology),
William Marsh Rice University, 1992
M.S.
(Geology), U. of Maryland, College Park, 1986
B.S.
(Geology), U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1983
General interest lies in mineralogy, geochemistry, experimental petrology and silicic volcanism. Current research emphasis lies in details of apatite geochemistry and structure, understanding FTIR spectroscopy of carbonate and OH groups in apatite, kinetics of pyrite disease in vertebrate fossils, gold in pyrite from defunct Carolina Terrane mines, and petrogenesis of the Davie County Orbicular Diorite. Collaborative work within the Museum with Trish Weaver on Ediacaran fauna of the Neoproterozoic Carolina Terrane. Long term research focuses on analytical problems presented by the apatite group minerals, activity-composition relationships of solid solution, and computer-assisted thermodynamic modeling of ternary calcium phosphate-molten calcium salt systems.
2006. Paleoenvironmental and paleobiogeographic implications of a swartpuntiid from the Ediacaran Period, Carolina Terrane, Stanly County, North Carolina. Precambrian Research (in revision). (P.G. Weaver, first author, also with M.A.S. McMenamin)
2005. Complexity in the carbonate n 3 domain in fluorapatite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 69:A62.
2004. Hydroxyl ordering in igneous apatite. American Mineralogist. 89:1411–1421.
2003. America’s First Gold Rush: Gold Fever in the Southeastern USA. In extraLapis English, Number 5, Gold: The Noble Mineral, p. 16–20. Lapis International, LLC, East Hampton, Connecticut, USA.
1993. Thermodynamics of mixing of liquids in the system Ca 3(PO 4) 2 - CaF 2 - CaCl 2 – Ca(OH) 2. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 57:4663–4676. (with J.C. Stormer, Jr.)
1993. Variation of F and Cl X-ray intensity due to diffusion in apatite during electron microprobe analysis. American Mineralogist. 78:641–648. (J.C. Stormer, Jr, first author, also with M.L. Pierson)
1989. A thermodynamic model for apatite solid solutions, applicable to high-temperature geologic problems. American Mineralogist. 74:877–888. (with J.C. Stormer, Jr.)
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