Matti Seppälä

Matti Kullervo Seppälä (5 September 1941 in Vaasa – 24 November 2020 in Hämeenlinna^[1]) was a Finnish geomorphologist specialized in cold climate aeolian processes.^[2]

Palsa bog in Enontekiö, Finland.

Seppälä obtained a Ph.D. at the University of Turku in 1971 and moved after to work at the University of Oulu. In 1978 he moved to the University of Helsinki and served as professor of physical geography from 1978 to 2009.^[3][4]

Matti Seppälä was also a research fellow at Uppsala University, Université de Montréal, University of Cambridge and Durham University.^[3] Seppälä got a one-year Humboldt grant by the German Research Foundation as guest professor at the Heidelberg University in 1977/78. Seppälä was the national representative for Finnland in the International Permafrost Association for almost 20 years.

Palsas as permafrost phenomena were generally known in northern Finland and Sweden since the beginning of the 20th century. Seppälä did detailed palsa studies especially in the 1980s, and became a foremost expert on palsas.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10]}

He was also the first Scandinavian geomorphologist initiating permafrost research in the mountains of northern Finland in the year 1985, together with German colleagues.^[11][12] Many other scientists followed this research approach of mapping and modelling mountain permafrost in Scandinavia.^[13]

References

1. Death notice. Helsingin Sanomat, 20 December 2020, p. C 17 (in Finnish).
2. Seppälä, Matti (2004). Wind as Geomorphic Agent in Cold Climates (Frontmatter) (PDF). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 521 56406 9. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
3. "Matti Seppälä". University of Helsinki. October 29, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
4. Ellonen, Leena, ed. (2008). Suomen professorit. Finlands professorer: 1640–2007. Helsinki: Professoriliitto. p. 664. ISBN 978-952-99281-1-8.
5. "Professor Matti Seppälä". Durham University. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
6. Seppälä, Matti (1979). "Recent palsa studies in Finland". Acta Universitatis Ouluensis. Ser. A (82): 81–87.
7. Seppälä, Matti (1982). "An experimental study on the formation of palsas". Proceedings Fourth Canadian Permafrost Conference, Calgary: 36–42.
8. Seppälä, Matti (1982). "Present-day periglacial phenomena in northern Finland". Biuletyn Peryglacjalny: 231–243.
9. Seppälä, Matti (1983). "Seasonal thawing of palsas in Finnish Lapland". Permafrost: Fourth International Conference, Proceedings, Washington D.C.: 1127–1132.
10. Seppälä, Matti (1986). "The origin of palsas". Geografiska Annaler. 86A: 141–147.
11. King, Lorenz; SeppäIä, Matti (1987). "Permafrost thickness and distribution in Finnish Lapland - Results of geoelectrical soundings". Polarforschung. 57 (3): 127–147.
12. King, Lorenz; SeppäIä, Matti (1988). "Permafrost sites in Finnish Lapland and their environment". Permafrost Fifth International Conference, Trondheim, Proceedings. 1: 183–188.
13. Etzelmüller, Bernd, Hoelzle, Martin, Flo Heggem, Eva Solbjørg, Isaksen, Ketil, Mittaz, Cathrine, Mühll, Daniel Vonder, ødegård, Rune S., Haeberli, Wilfried, Sollid, Johan Ludvig: Mapping and modelling the occurrence and distribution of mountain permafrost. - Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift / Norwegian Journal of Geography Vol. 55, 4, 186-194. 2010