Dr Taija Torvela

Biography

I finished my PhD in 2007 at Abo Akademi University, Finland, on the 4D evolution of a crustal-scale shear zone in a Precambrian basement. After my PhD, I worked for Posiva as a structural geologist. Posiva is the organisation which is responsible for the final deposition of spent nuclear fuel in Finland into a crystalline basement repository. In 2009, I went to University of Aberdeen for a two-year post-doctoral fellowship. There, I was involved in the development of the Virtual Seismic Atlas, www.seismicatlas.org, and research projects on structural interpretation of seismic data, mostly from the perspective of the behaviour of the crystalline basement in both extensional and compressional environments, but also worked on deep-water fold and thrust systems. After Aberdeen, I was appointed lecturer in structural geology and 3D modelling at the University of Helsinki. In Helsinki, I continued with research projects related to deep orogenic processes, specifically synorogenic mid-crustal extension and orogenic collapse, and the usability of seismic reflection data in researching crustal structures. I also continued with basin-related research, investigating the structure and the evolution of a 1.9 Ga volcanosedimentary basin in southern Finland and the associated sulphide mineralizations. I moved to Leeds in the autumn of 2012. Here, I will continue to pursue my research interests in basement processes and deformation, both in convergent (orogenic) and in basin (extensional) environments, using e.g. seismic reflection data, field mapping, and microanalytics. I'm also interested how deformatin processes at various scales affect ore mineralisations, and how we can utilise structural geology knowledge in minerals exploration. I am the leader of the MSc Structural Geology with Geophysics since autumn 2014. Qualifications PhD, Abo Akademi University, 2007 HEA Fellow, ref PR081532, 2015 Memberships/Fellowships Geological Society of London, Fellow Geological Society of Finland, member IUGS TecTask, www.tectask.org , officer and website manager

Research Interest

- Middle and lower crustal structures and processes during orogenesis, and especially behaviour and role of migmatites in accommodating large-scale strains - Fold and thrust belts/orogenic wedges - Behaviour of middle and lower crust during lithospheric stretching/basin formation - Application of seismic data to the structural interpretation of the crystalline basement - Investigating possibilitied to enhance basement seismic reflection data by using seismic attributes, to detect sub-kilometre-scale structures - Integrating field work and seismic reflection interpretation - Relationships between geological structures and ore mineralisations - Interpretational uncertainty