Sebastian Wolf

Sebastian Georg Wolf is a researcher at the Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen. He studies how Earth’s landscapes are shaped by the interaction between tectonic forces, erosion, and climate. Wolf completed his PhD in 2021 and has already made important contributions to understanding how mountain ranges grow and evolve over geological timescales. His research combines advanced numerical modelling with geological observations to investigate the processes that build and reshape the Earth’s surface.

Mountain ranges influence climate, biodiversity, natural hazards, and the distribution of glaciers and ice sheets. However, many fundamental questions remain unanswered. How high can mountain ranges grow? To what extent are they shaped by forces deep within the Earth versus erosion driven by rivers and glaciers? And how have repeated ice ages influenced the landscapes we see today? These questions are particularly relevant in regions such as Norway and Greenland, where glaciers have played a key role in sculpting the landscape.

In the TMF Starting Grant project ICICLE, Wolf will develop a new generation of numerical models that combine tectonic deformation, climate, and glacial erosion in a single framework. The models will allow researchers to investigate how mountain belts evolve over millions of years under changing climatic conditions, including repeated cycles of glaciation and ice retreat. The goal is to establish a quantitative understanding of how climate-driven erosion and tectonic processes interact to create and modify mountainous landscapes.

The project will focus on several natural laboratories where the interplay between glaciers and mountain building is particularly pronounced, including Southern Norway, Greenland, the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and the Southern Andes. By combining advanced computer simulations with geological and climatic data, ICICLE will explore how different tectonic settings and climate histories have shaped these landscapes through time.

ICICLE will provide new insights into the long-term evolution of Earth’s topography and help answer major questions about the relationship between climate and landscape change. The project will also improve our understanding of how glaciers and ice sheets respond to changing environmental conditions, knowledge that is increasingly important in a warming world.