Field of work
I am a field-based structural geologist interested in understanding lithospheric deformation and tectonics at various scales and different crustal levels: from the outcrop architecture and deformation behavior of brittle faults near the Earth`s surface (Gasser & Mancktelow, 2009), to P-T-d-t paths of mid-crustal gneiss complexes (Gasser et al., 2011), to lower-crustal behavior of large-scale collisional nappe stacks (Gasser et al., 2015).
My research has so far centered around the tectonic evolution and geodynamics of convergent settings, such as the central European Alps, the accretionary orogen of the North American Cordillera, and the deeply eroded, large-scale collisional orogen of the Caledonides of Scandinavia, Greenland and Svalbard. Convergent tectonic settings are responsible for the most spectacular topographic features on Earth, they fundamentally reshape the continental margins involved in convergence, they are the locus of active deformation and are prone to seismic and other natural hazards, and they control the distribution of important natural resources such as ore, water and hydrocarbons.
In my research, I pursue an interdisciplinary approach, combining detailed, modern field investigations with state-of-the-art metamorphic petrology, geo- and thermochronology, geochemistry, stratigraphy and geophysics. The aim is to understand lithospheric deformation and tectonic evolution in 4D, relying on proper reconstructions of P-T-d-t paths for the investigated areas. Such field-based, integral 4D models of convergent tectonic settings are a prerequisite for understanding the fundamental geodynamic processes behind lithospheric deformation, interpreting and assessing numerical models of lithospheric deformation, and understanding the occurrence and distribution of natural resources and geohazards.
- GE414 - Structural Geology and Tectonics
- GE414 - 5 day field mapping course
- GE406 Introduction to Geology
- GE491 Bachelor thesis in Geology
- GE481 - Engineering Geology bedrock
- MGUNA/MGBNA201 - Natural sciences, part 2 - the non-living nature (physics, chemistry and geosciences for teacher students)
- Regional geological evolution of convergent settings (Alps, Caledonides, North American Cordillera)
- The closure history of the Iapetus Ocean
- Tectonic and geomorphological evolution of Western Norway from the Devonian to today
Publications
-
The Thermal Evolution of Western Norway Based on Multi-Sample Models of an Elevation Transect: Implications for the Formation of High-Elevation Low-Relief Surfaces on an Elevated Rifted Continental Margin
-
A review of the Caledonian Wilson cycle from a North Atlantic perspective
-
Constraining the tectonic evolution of rifted continental margins by U–Pb calcite dating
-
Trace elements behaviour and Nd isotopic ratios in REE-bearing accessory minerals along a metamorphic gradient: new insights from the Chugach Metamorphic Complex (Alaska)
-
The Grønfjellet unit – an alkaline volcanic complex of uncertain tectonic affiliation in the eastern Trondheim Nappe Complex
-
Mid-Ordovician stratigraphy and volcanism in the Hølonda area, Scandinavian Caledonides: complex tectonomagmatic development following arc–continent collision near the Laurentian margin of Iapetus
-
Deep-water trace fossils in the Ilfjellet rift basin (Middle Ordovician), central Norwegian Caledonides
-
New insights into the brittle evolution along the passive continental margin of Western Norway from U-Pb calcite dating
-
New apatite thermochronological data from Western Norway
-
The brittle evolution of Western Norway – A space-time model based on fault mineralizations, K–Ar fault gouge dating and paleostress analysis
-
The Skuggliberga unit of the Oppdal area, central Scandinavian Caledonides: Calc-alkaline pyroclastic volcanism in a fluvial to shallow-marine basin following a mid-ordovician orogenic event
-
Concurrent MORB-type and ultrapotassic volcanism in an extensional basin along the Laurentian Iapetus margin: Tectonomagmatic response to Ordovician arc-continent collision and subduction polarity flip
-
Geophysical and geological bedrock mapping in the eastern Trondheim Nappe Complex in Trøndelag, Mid-Norway
-
Nytt kart over Norges berggrunn 1:1,350,000 - forhåndsvisning
-
Structural framework and the timing of landscape-forming faults - a study from Western Norway
-
How reliable are maximum depositional age estimates based on detrital zircon? An example from Early Palaeozoic successions of the Trondheim Nappe Complex, Scandinavian Caledonides
-
Identifying the transition between the Gula Complex and the Fundsjø Group in the Tverråtjønnan area, Trøndelag, central Norwegian Caledonides
-
The brittle architecture of the Sognefjord-Nordfjord area, Western Norway
-
Early - Middle Ordovician sedimentation and bimodal volcanism at the margin of Iapetus: the Trollhøtta–Kinna Basin of the central Norwegian Caledonides
-
Ordovician shoshonitic to ultrapotassic volcanism in the central Norwegian Caledonides: The result of sediment subduction, mantle metasomatism and mantle partial melting
-
Ductile to brittle structural framework of the Nordfjord area, Western Norway
-
Tectonic evolution of Ordovician-Silurian rocks in the Oppdal area, southern Trondheim Nappe Complex
-
Tectonostratigraphy of the eastern Trondheim Nappe Complex
-
Introducing digital mapping in under-graduate field courses: how and when?
-
Contemporaneous MORB-type and extremely enriched volcanic rocks in the central Scandinavian Caledonides: the effect of slab break-off after arc-continent collision and/or subduction initiation after polarity flip?
-
The Hølonda and Ilfjellet volcano-sedimentary basins of the central Norwegian Caledonides: Early/Middle Ordovician response to ophiolite obduction, subduction initiation and continental-arc establishment
-
Topographic evolution of western Norway: a multi-method approach
-
Polyphase metamorphism and deformation in the Kalak and Reisa Nappe Complexes: unravelling the complex polyphase pre-Caledonian and Caledonian evolution of continental crust in northern Norway
-
I berget det blå – Norges ukjente skatter og farer.
-
Towards a modern 1:250 000 national bedrock map database
-
The Støren Group of the Trondheim Nappe Complex revisited: rift-related early/middle Ordovician volcanism and turbidite sedimentation at the onset of westward subduction?
-
The origin of Th-enriched volcanic rocks in Oppdal, central Norwegian Caledonides – implications for the evolution of Ordovician arc magmatism
-
Anticlockwise metamorphic pressure–temperature paths and nappe stacking in the Reisa Nappe Complex in the Scandinavian Caledonides, northern Norway: evidence for weakening of lower continental crust before and during continental collision
-
Bedrock map ORKANGER 1521-1, M 1:50 000. Geological Survey of Norway
-
Chemistry, age and tectonic evolution of the western Trondheim Nappe Complex in the Oppdal area, Central Norway
-
Et quodlibet om stein og mye annet. Bokanmeldelse av H. Svensen: «Stein på stein – på sporet av den største masseutryddelsen i jordens historie.»
-
Mitt geofunn: Nonsåsandesitten
-
Background values of gold, potentially toxic elements and emerging high-tech critical elements in surface water collected in a remote northern European environment
-
Fifty-one chemical elements in till from the Oppdal region, Mid-Norway: Relation to mineralization, quaternary and bedrock geology
-
Tectonic evolution of syn- to late-orogenic sedimentary- volcanic basins in the central Norwegian Caledonides
-
The Støren Group greenstones and their relationship to the ophiolite fragments of the western Trondheim Nappe Complex, central Norwegian Caledonides
-
The enigmatic Gula Complex of the central Norwegian Caledonides: new constraints on age and origin from zircon dating and geochemistry
-
Marginal basin volcanism, Silurian sandstone sedimentation and subduction- zone volcanism at Dugurdsknappen, Mid-Norwegian Caledonides
-
Direct 40Ar/39Ar dating of Late Ordovician and Silurian brittle faulting in the Southwestern Norwegian Caledonides
-
Digital bedrock mapping at the Geological Survey of Norway: BGS SIGMA tool and in-house database structure
-
Characterization of depositional age and structure of sedimentary successions by U-Pb TIMS and LA-ICP-MS dating of volcanic horizons and detrital zircons: an example from the western Trondheim Nappe Complex, Scandinavian Caledonides
-
On the reliability of manually produced bedrock lineament maps
-
A petrological and geochemical study of the Surna Nappe (Seve Nappe Complex?) in the Central Scandinavian Caledonides, Norway
-
Behaviour of geochronometers and timing of metamorphic reactions during deformation at lower crustal conditions: phase equilibrium modelling and U–Pb dating of zircon, monazite, rutile and titanite from the Kalak Nappe Complex, northern Norway
-
Digital mapping at the Geological Survey of Norway: Experiences from the Sveconorwegian and Caledonian orogens
-
Present status of Neoproterozoic-Ordovician plate forensics in the Norwegian Caledonides
-
A petrological investigation of the Blåhø nappe (Seve Nappe Complex) in Sør-Trøndelag, Norway, with a particular focus on garnet in different lithologies.
-
Manual extraction of bedrock lineaments from high-resolution LiDAR data: methodological bias and human perception
-
The Caledonides of Greenland, Svalbard and other Arctic areas: status of research and open questions
-
Metamorphic P-T conditions across the Chugach Metamorphic Complex (Alaska) - A record of focused exhumation during transpression
-
The Svalbard Caledonides – a collage of Laurentian, Timanian and exotic terranes assembled by Silurian - Late (?) Devonian transcurrent faulting
-
The Scandinavian Caledonides: main features, conceptual advances and critical questions
-
Extension versus contraction in the East Greenland Caledonides
-
The Rendalen-Grejsdalen transect of the North-East Greenland Caledonides:New field observations from NE dipping normal faults bounding a migmatite complex
-
Caledonian terrane amalgamation of Svalbard: detrital zircon provenance of Mesoproterozoic to Carboniferous strata from Oscar II Land, western Spitsbergen
-
Constraints on strain rates during large-scale mid-crustal shearing: An example from the basal Vaddas shear zone, Northern Caledonides.
-
Neoproterozoic partial melting and ca. 10 m.y. of Caledonian shearing in the south-western Kalak nappe complex, Northern Norway
-
Caledonian terrane amalgamation in Svalbard: Detrital zircon preovenance of Mesoproterozoic to Carboniferous strata from Oscar II Land, western Spitsbergen
-
The behaviour of monazite from greenschist facies phyllites to anatectic gneisses: an example from the Chugach Metamorphic Complex, southern Alaska
-
Large-scale, short-lived metamorphism, deformation, and magmatism in the Chugach metamorphic complex, southern Alaska: A SHRIMP U-Pb study of zircons
-
Rates of high-grade metamorphism from U-Pb geochronology and their implication for tectonic settings
-
The behaviour of monazite: a petrological, trace element and SHRIMP U-Pb study of greenschist facies phyllites to anatacetic gneisses, Chugach Metamorphic Complex, Alaska
-
The petrology and geochemistry of a metabasite belt along the southern margin of Alaska
-
Fate of an Eocene HT metamorphic complex in a forearc location
-
Formation of a metamorphic complex along an obliquely convergent margin: Structural and thermochronological evolution of the Chugach Metamorphic Complex, southern Alaska
-
Exhuming Metamorphic Rocks: Constraints from Cooling of the Chugach Metamorphic Complex, southern Alaska
-
Metamorphism of the Chugach Metamorphic Complex, (Alaska). New pressure estimates question the ridge subduction context
-
Brittle faulting in the Rawil depression: field observations from the Rezli fault zone, Helvetic nappes, Western Switzerland
-
Determining the rates of geological processes in a large-scale metamorphic complex: a multi-method approach
-
The Rezli fault zone: Field observations from a major oblique-slip fault in the Rawil depression, Western Switzerland
-
Exhumation of a metamorphic complex in a strike-slip setting: observations from the Chugach Metamorphic Complex (CMC), southern Alaska
-
Fault zone architecture of a major oblique-slip fault in the Rawil depression,Western Helvetic nappes, Switzerland
-
Internal structural geometry of the Paleozoic of Graz
-
Geological profiles through the poly-phase deformed Paleozoic of Graz
-
Tectonic evolution of the Engi Slates, Glarus Alps, Switzerland
-
The Chugach Metamorphic Complex of southern Alaska: A test for wedge extrusion models?
-
Faulting and fluid flow in the Rawil depression, Western Switzerland.
-
An angular unconformity below the Wildflysch nappe in the Glarus Alps - Observations from the area around the Landesplattenberg in Engi