I drive my research in the earth sciences in three directions: tectonics (which is the main topic I am interested in), hydrothermal alteration and environmental studies. To better understand mountain building processes, I have current investigations in convergence regimes such as the Pyrenees (Spain-France) but also in extensional regimes such as the Rio Grande Rift (USA). To address the investigations, I use a variety of different tools, including paleomagnetism, rock magnetic mineralogy studies, field mapping, analyses of the petrofabric using the anisotropy of the magnetic susceptibility (AMS) technique, and balancing geological cross sections.
During the development of the tectonics studies, vertical axis rotations (VAR) deduced by paleomagnetism, and the use of remagnetizations as a tool to decipher the kinematics of a specific area have been my major interests.
I am currently working in the study of magnetic fabrics in sedimentary rocks and granites and their relationship to strain.
In addition, I am dedicated to by-side projects related to magnetostratigraphy and environmental magnetism in the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, that partly concentrate my research investigations.

Enviados

B. Oliva-Urcia, Agnes Kontny; Anja M Schleicher; Carsten Vahle. Destruction of crustal magnetization in basalts due to fluid-rock interactions in high temperature geothermal systems (Krafla, Iceland). Geophysical Journal International. Under Review.

Publicados:

B. Oliva-Urcia, E. L. Pueyo, A.M., Casas, A. Povocí Juan. Structural and paleomagnetic evidence for non-rotational kinematics in the western termination of the External Sierras (southwestern central Pyrenees). Geologica Acta. In press.

B. Oliva-Urcia, A.M., Casas, E. L. Pueyo, T. Román-Berdiel, J.W. Geissman. Paleomagnetic evidence for dextral strike-slip motion in the Pyrenees during alpine convergence (Mauléon basin, France). Tectonophysics, 494: 165-179. 2010.

B. Oliva-Urcia; A.M. Casas; R. Soto, J.J., Villalaín, K. Kodama. A transtensional basin model for the Organyà basin (central southern Pyrenees) based on magnetic fabric and brittle mesostrustures. Geophysical Journal International, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2010.04865.x. 2010.

B. Oliva-Urcia, T. Roman Berdiel; A.M. Casas; E. L. Pueyo. Tertiary compressional overprint on Aptian-Albian extensional magnetic fabrics, North Pyrenean Zone. Journal of Structural Geology, 32, 362-376. 2010.

B. Oliva-Urcia, J.M. Rahl; A.M .Schleicher; J.M. Parés. Correlation between the anisotropy of the magnetic susceptibility, strain ellipsoids and X-ray Texture Goniometry in phyllites from Crete, Greece. Tectonophysics, 486, 120-131. 2010.

B. Oliva-Urcia, E. L. Pueyo and J. C. Larrasoaña, A. Gil, P. Mata, J.M. Parés, A. Schleicher, O. Pueyo. Disentangling magnetic subfabrics and their link to deformation processes in cleaved sedimentary rocks from the Internal Sierras (west central Pyrenees, Spain). Journal of Structural Geology, 31: 163-174. 2009.

R. Soto, J. C. Larrasoaña, L. E. Arlegui, E. Beamud, B. Oliva-Urcia, J. L. Simón. Reliability of magnetic fabric of weakly deformed mudrocks as a palaeostress indicator in compressive settings. Journal of Structural Geology, 31, 512–522. 2009.

B. Oliva-Urcia, E. L. Pueyo and J. C. Larrasoaña. Magnetic reorganization induced by pressure-solution: a potential mechanism for orogenic-scale remagnetizations. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 265: 525 – 534. 2008.

B. Oliva-Urcia, E. L. Pueyo. Gradient of shortening and vertical-axis rotations in the Southern Pyrenees (Spain), insights from a synthesis of paleomagnetic data. Revista de la Sociedad Geológica de España, 20 (1-2): 105-118. 2007.

B. Oliva-Urcia, and Pueyo, E.L. Rotational basement kinematics deduced from remagnetized cover rocks (Internal Sierras, Southwestern Pyrenees). Tectonics 26, TC4014, doi:10.1029/2006TC001955. 2007.

Antolín-Tomás, B.; Román-Berdiel, T.; Casas-Sainz, A.; Gil-Peña, I.; Oliva, B.; Soto, R. Structural and magnetic fabric study of the Marimanha granite (Axial Zone of the Pyrenees). International Journal of Earth Sciences. 2007, DOI 10.1007/s00531-007-0248-1

Ruth Soto, Antonio M. Casas-Sainz, Juan J. Villalaín, Belén Oliva-Urcia. Mesozoic extensión in the Basque-Cantabrian basin (N Spain): Contributions from AMS and brittle mesostructures. Tectonophysics, 445: 373-394. 2007.