Tracing the evolution of Scandinavia and surrounding seas over the last 60 million years
PhD defence, Friday 24 February 2012. Bartosz Gołędowski.
2012.02.24 |
Bartosz Gołędowski
The fjords are the most spectacular features of the Norwegian landscape, with the steep slopes of the surrounding mountains and a kilometre-deep seabed. The question is what did these fjords look like before they were carved and shaped by the relatively recent activity of large glaciers? Many millions of years ago, they were most probably V-shaped river valleys, similar to the ones found in other mountain ranges around the world. This illustration shows a calculated landscape model of the Sognefjord, the biggest fjord in Norway, which demonstrates the likely appearance of this area 65 million years ago.
In his PhD project, Bartosz Gołędowski investigated the geological evolution of the Scandinavian area, with a particular emphasis on climate and tectonically induced erosion, and the varying amount of eroded material transported by rivers and glaciers to the surrounding seas – called sedimentary basins.
Bartosz Gołędowski made use of an extensive offshore dataset used in petroleum exploration to study the correlation between climate variations during the last 65 million years and the architecture of the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. His work points to a correlation between climate conditions and the amount of eroded and transported material that mainly originated from the Norwegian mountains. High erosion during cold climates was most probably related to mountain glacier activity, which is also present nowadays.
His work contributes to the ongoing discussion about the role of climate and tectonism in the evolution of the Scandinavian area.
The PhD degree was completed at the Department of Geoscience, Science and Technology, Aarhus University.
Time: Friday 24 February at 13.00
Place: Lecture Theatre 1, building 1671, room 137, Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University
Title of dissertation: Onshore-offshore relationships along the Norwegian margin
Contact information: Bartosz Gołędowski, bartosz.goledowski@geo.au.dk
Members of the assessment committee:
Dr Ole Valdemar Vejbæk, Hess Corporation, Copenhagen, Denmark
Dr Kerry Gallagher, Geosciences, University of Rennes, France
Associate Professor Karen Luise Knudsen (chair), Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University
Main supervisor:
Professor Søren Bom Nielsen, Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University
Co-supervisor:
Associate Professor Ole Rønø Clausen, Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University
Language: The dissertation will be defended in English
The defence is public.
The dissertation is available for reading at the Graduate School of Science and Technology / GSST, Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, room 112.
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