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.
Courses taught
- GE414 - Structural Geology and Tectonics
- GE414 - 5 day field mapping course
- GE406 Introduction to Geology
- GE491 Bachelor thesis in Geology
- GE481 - Engineering Geology bedrock
Research areas
- Structural Geology and Tectonics
- Geochronology
- Metamorphic Petrology
- Regional geological evolution of convergent settings (Alps, Caledonides, North American Cordillera)
Publications
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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
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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
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How reliable are maximum depositional age estimates based on detrital zircon? An example from Early Palaeozoic successions of the Trondheim Nappe Complex, Scandinavian Caledonides
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Structural framework and the timing of landscape-forming faults - a study from Western Norway
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The brittle architecture of the Sognefjord-Nordfjord area, Western Norway
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