Rolf Birger Svarstad Pedersen

Position

Professor

Research groups

Research

My current research focuses on seafloor spreading, formation of oceanic lithosphere, hydrothermal systems and deep-sea geobiology. My expertise is in geochemistry, petrology and marine geology. Deep marine research is currently focused on ultraslow spreading ridges and exploration of the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridges (AMOR). This ranges from studying volcanic crust-forming processes and the architecture of oceanic lithosphere - to water-rock-microbe interaction in hydrothermal systems. Exploration of the AMOR to clarify the extent and diversity of hydrothermal activity is an important part of my current research activity. For this, I have organized a number of international deep-sea expeditions, and I collaborate widely with marine technology institutions and companies to develop marine robotics and sampling tools for this research. More recently I have become involved in CO2 storage related research that is focused on sequestration of CO2 in the oceanic lithosphere, and on seafloor leakage scenarios and their environmental consequences.

Publications