Matti Kullervo Seppälä (5 September 1941 in Vaasa – 24 November 2020 in Hämeenlinna) was a Finnish geomorphologist specialized in cold climate aeolian processes. Iitto swamp

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 Matti Seppälä was also a research fellow at Uppsala University, Université de Montréal, University of Cambridge and

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

. Seppälä got a one-year Humboldt grant by the

German Research Foundation The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...

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. He was also the first Scandinavian geomorphologist initiating permafrost research in the mountains of

northern Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothn ...

in the year 1985, together with German colleagues. Many other scientists followed this research approach of mapping and modelling mountain permafrost in Scandinavia.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. 201

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References

1941 births 2020 deaths Finnish geographers Finnish geologists Finnish geomorphologists Process geomorphologists Quaternary geologists University of Turku alumni Academic staff of the University of Oulu Academic staff of the University of Helsinki {{Finland-scientist-stub