My PhD work (end 1996) was a regional geological study in the South Shetland Islands (Antarctica), implying a multidisciplinary scope with the integration of geodynamics and geomorphology. This is reflected in a series of pre- and post-doctoral papers focused on the Antarctic region, which covered a range of topics including igneous petrology, stratigraphy, structural geology, neotectonics in continental and marine regions, glacial and coastal geomorphology, Quaternary relative sea level oscillations, tephrachronology and volcanic geomorphology.
In the period 1996-97, I was under contract by the Marine Geology Group at the Universitat de Barcelona for a stay in the Southampton Oceanography Centre (UK), where I processed and interpreted high resolution swath bathymetric data from the Valencia Trough (W Mediterranean).
Since 2001, in the Departament de Geodinàmica i Geofísica (Universitat de Barcelona), I have been involved on geological hazard studies, including different topics and geographic areas. I worked on landslide hazard evaluation and susceptibility zoning in Nicaragua, and on the characterization of active faults in seismogenic regions such as the Chilean Andes and the SE Betic Cordillera in the Iberian Peninsula (both marine and terrestrial areas). I collaborated also on the analysis of submarine landslides and turbidite deposits in the SW margin of the Iberian Peninsula to establish the link of mass wasting events with seismicity and to obtain recurrence periods for medium and high magnitude earthquakes.
Since 2003, I focused on Terrestrial Cosmonuclide (TCN) applications. I started working on the topic in close collaboration with colleagues from CEREGE (Aix-Marseille, France), to date active faults and glacier fluctuations in the central Pyrenees. I addition, I set up and I became the researcher in charge of the Laboratori de Cosmonúclids Terrestres (Universitat de Barcelona), devoted to separation of 10Be from rock and sediment samples. A long-term agreement allows us to perform the cosmonuclide measurements in the large-scale 5MV AMS facility at CEREGE, as scientific collaboration. This enabled me to establish fruitful collaborations with research groups interested in the applications of TCN, to work on dating 1) alluvial fans in the Eastern Betic Shear Zone of SE Iberia, 2) fluvial incision in the Arribes de Duero in W Iberia, 3) glacial phases in the Pyrenees, Austrian Alps, Sanabria region in NW of Iberia, and the Cantabrian Mountains in N Iberia.
Recently, I have been focusing mainly on active tectonics and paleoseismological projects in the Eastern Betics Shear Zone (SE Iberia), with special interest in Quaternary geology, and on the combination of a range of dating methods, including carbonate soil evolution, U-series on pedogenic carbonate, and OSL.
I am now especially interested in helping determine with increased precision the parameters of potential earthquake sources in Eastern Iberia, with special focus on the High Pyrenees, where I can combine my former expertise on glacial geomorphololgy, with active tectonic studies.
