Tectonic Geomorphology

Tectonic geomorphology deals with the long-term landscape development and geological and tectonic processes of the Earth's upper crust. The focus is on subsidence and exhumation events related to intracontinental extension and the disintegration of supercontinents and their consequences for the tectonic and geomorphic history of the emerging large-scale structures. In recent years, the existence of an extensive Mesozoic-Early Cenozoic basin system in Antarctica, India, Australia and South Africa has been proven. Tectonically induced basin inversion and rapid erosion of poorly consolidated deposits triggered the uplift of rift shoulders and continental margins via isostatic compensation. Uplift in polar regions is additionally linked with increasing climatic influence. On the one hand, simultaneous formation of high-latitude mountains and oceans initiated the formation of ice sheets and thus climate deterioration far beyond regional scale. Otherwise, climatic cooling generated very efficient glacial drainage systems that isostatically support further uplift.

Working Area

Antarctica, Arctics, Sri Lanka, India

Methods

Thermochronology, structural geology, geomorphology