Sandstone deformation and deformation bands
My research on deformation bands springs out of my fascination of these structures while doing field work on the Colorado Plateau in 1993 and onward. In the Navajo and Entrada sandstones, deformation bands stand out as impressive and eye-catching structures for anyone interesting in deformation of porous sandstones. I have since looked at deformation bands many places in the world, including Nevada, California, Sinai, France, Chile, Denmark and Norway. One of my main goals is to understand the key conditions that govern deformation banding. What is the critical lithologic and stress conditions for their formation and how do they develop in different lithologies? I search for answers to questions like these mainly through field observations and related analyses. Modeling of these structures using flow simulators is also something that I have been involved in (although this is not really my field of expertice).
Presentation on deformation bands given i Oslo (Feb 2012) is posted here.
COPS: Contractional deformation Of Porous Sandstones
In this project we focus on sandstone deformation in the contractional regime. Much of my previous work has been focused on extension and normal fault, and I find it interesting to compare these two regimes. Two main settings are explored: fault-propagation folds (forced folds) above basement faults on the Colorado Plateau, and thrust settings of S Nevada (Keystone thrust and Muddy Mountains thrust). PhD student Luisa Zuluaga works on this project.
SALTEC: Salt tectonics
During my writing of the Salt tectonics chapter of my textbook, I was intrigued by the structural diversity of salt-related tectonics. So when my colleague and former student Atle Rotevatn suggested we start some research activity within this field I was easily convinced, because this part of structural geology combines fun and usefulness. A project named SALTEC is now up and running, currently with a focus on the Egersund Basin (North Sea) and the Paradox Basin (Utah). PhD student Anette Tvedt is now deep into seismic interpretationof salt structures, which is combined with field studies.
Faulting in rift settings, notably the North Sea rift system, has been important to me since I joined Statoil in the mid 80s. My current research is towards understanding sedimentation and tectonics in the middle-upper Jurassic of the northern North Sea area, as well as the deep structure along the Norwegian margin of the rift system. I am part of a new rift project called MultiRift, which focuses on the relationship between North Sea basement structures and Permo-Triassic rift architecture, and then again the effect of this architecture on the Jurassic rift phase. The project is managed by prof. Robert Gawthorpe at the Univ. of Bergen. 
regional study of the many extensional structures found in the Caledonides of S Norway. Direct or indirect dating of tectonometamorphic events in the Scandinavian Caledonides has also been an interest of mine. My current interests are within continental subduction-related processes, and timing and plate-tectonic significance of late- and post-tectonic extension. 
Structural geology
