Variscan Tectonics My main research focuses on tectonic processes associated with the origin of mountain belts. I am particularly interested in the first-order orogenic processes related to the formation of the supercontinent Pangea in the Late Paleozoic and the synergy between the structural geology of rocks observed in the field to larger scale tectonic events . In this context, my past research has focused on the Late Paleozoic Appalachian-Variscan orogenic belts of eastern North America and Western Europe, because they directly record the collision and suturing of Gondwana with Laurussia in the Late Paleozoic. Remnants of this suture zone are exposed throughout the Variscan orogen from southern Iberia through the British Isles into Eastern Europe. My long-term objectives are: (i) to contribute to the understanding of orogenic processes (ii) to determine what role these various processes played in the global evolution of the earth’s lithosphere and (iii) the relationship of these processes to ore deposits.
Basin Analysis I am also interested in the relationship between tectonics basin development and sequence stratigraphy