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Erin Todd, Ph.D.

Igneous petrology and isotope geochemistry, with particular emphasis on the origin and evolution of melts associated with subduction zones.

Professional Experience

  • 2012 - Present     Research Geologist, USGS Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska

  • 2011 - 2012           Postdoctoral Research Associate, WWU - University of Münster

  • 2005 - 2011          Research and Teaching Assistant, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D.      2011    University of California, Santa Cruz, CA       Earth Sciences

  • M.S.       2005    Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ    Geology

  • B.S.        1999    University of Florida, Gainesville, FL            Geology

Affiliations and Memberships

  • American Geophysical Union

  • Geochemical Society

  • Geological Society of America

  • InterRIDGE

Science and Products

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Scientists wait for a helicopter pickup at a geologic mapping and sampling station high in the Neacola Mountains, Alaska

Metallogeny and Tectonics of the Lake Clark and Neacola Mountains Region, South-central Alaska

Alaska hosts a well-documented belt of ore deposits that lies roughly parallel to the Alaska Range, beginning at the Alaska Peninsula in the southwest, continuing up through the Fairbanks Mining District in the north, and curving back into the Tintina Gold Belt on its eastern end. Known mineral prospects and occurrences include porphyry copper, intrusion-related gold, volcanogenic massive sulfides...
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Mineral Resources Program, Alaska Science Center
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Metallogeny and Tectonics of the Lake Clark and Neacola Mountains Region, South-central Alaska

Alaska hosts a well-documented belt of ore deposits that lies roughly parallel to the Alaska Range, beginning at the Alaska Peninsula in the southwest, continuing up through the Fairbanks Mining District in the north, and curving back into the Tintina Gold Belt on its eastern end. Known mineral prospects and occurrences include porphyry copper, intrusion-related gold, volcanogenic massive sulfides...
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U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Zircon and Titanite from Rocks from the Western Alaska Range, Northern Aleutian Range, Taylor Mountains, and Tikchik Mountains Regions, Alaska

This data set contains U-Pb isotopic data and ages of zircon and titanite from igneous and metamorphic rocks collected from the western Alaska and northern Aleutian Range of south-central Alaska. The data sets also contain U-Pb isotopic data and ages of detrital zircon from sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks collected in the same region but also from the Taylor and Wood River Mountains of south
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Alaska Science Center

Sr, Nd, Hf and Pb isotope geochemistry of Early Miocene shoshonitic lavas from the South Fiji Basin: Note

We present new Sr, Nd, Hf and Pb isotope data for Early Miocene shoshonitic and high-K lavas dredged from seamounts in the South Fiji Basin, southwest Pacific Ocean. Our analyses provide a useful reference dataset for this distinctive compositional suite. The shoshonitic lavas formed in an intra-oceanic back-arc basin setting and are broadly coeval with nearby arc and back-arc basin lavas. Further
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Alaska Science Center

Cretaceous to Oligocene magmatic and tectonic evolution of the western Alaska Range: insights from U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology

New U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar ages integrated with geologic mapping and observations across the western Alaska Range constrain the distribution and tectonic setting of Cretaceous to Oligocene magmatism along an evolving accretionary plate margin in south-central Alaska. These rocks were emplaced across basement domains that include Neoproterozoic to Jurassic carbonate and siliciclastic strata of the Fare
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Alaska Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Basalt geochemistry and mantle flow during early backarc basin evolution: Havre Trough and Kermadec Arc, southwest Pacific

The Havre Trough (HT) backarc basin in the southwest Pacific is in the rifting stage of development. We distinguish five types of basalt there based on their amount and kind of slab component: backarc basalts (BAB) with little or no slab component, modified BAB with slight amounts, reararc (RA) with more, remnants of the preexisting arc (Colville Ridge horsts), and arc front volcanoes within the H
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Alaska Science Center

GIS-Based Identification of Areas with Mineral Resource Potential for Six Selected Deposit Groups, Bureau of Land Management Central Yukon Planning Area, Alaska

This study, covering the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Central Yukon Planning Area (CYPA), Alaska, was prepared to aid BLM mineral resource management planning. Estimated mineral resource potential and certainty are mapped for six selected mineral deposit groups: (1) rare earth element (REE) deposits associated with peralkaline to carbonatitic intrusive igneous rocks, (2) placer and paleoplacer
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Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Mineral Resources Program, Alaska Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Links between tectonics, magmatism, and mineralization in the formation of Late Cretaceous porphyry systems in the Yukon-Tanana upland, eastern Alaska, USA

Cretaceous-Paleocene porphyry Cu(±Mo±Au) occurrences are scattered throughout the Yukon-Tanana upland in eastern Alaska. Known occurrences in eastern Alaska are poorly characterized, despite a resurgence in exploration. Porphyry deposits in the upland are emplaced into structurally complex metamorphic rocks representing a variety of tectonic environments, resulting in diverse alteration and minera
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Alaska Science Center

Effects of simple acid leaching of crushed and powdered geological materials on high-precision Pb isotope analyses

We present new results of simple acid leaching experiments on the Pb isotope composition of USGS standard reference material powders and on ocean island basalt whole rock splits and powders. Rock samples were leached with cold 6 N HCl in an ultrasonic bath, then on a hot plate, and washed with ultrapure H2O before sample digestion in HF‐HNO3 and chromatographic purification of Pb. Lead isotope ana
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Alaska Science Center

U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotope, age, and trace-element data from zircons at four sites in the western Alaska Range and Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska

This Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) Raw Data File presents U-Pb geochronology and Lu-Hf isotopic compositions, age-dating results, and additional trace-elemental composition of zircons from four granitoids sampled during investigations by DGGS geologists in the western Alaska Range and the Talkeetna Mountains. The purpose of the Lu-Hf and U-Pb isotopic study was to better unde
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Alaska Science Center

Copahue volcano and its regional magmatic setting

Copahue volcano (Province of Neuquen, Argentina) has produced lavas and strombolian deposits over several 100,000s of years, building a rounded volcano with a 3 km elevation. The products are mainly basaltic andesites, with the 2000–2012 eruptive products the most mafic. The geochemistry of Copahue products is compared with those of the main Andes arc (Llaima, Callaqui, Tolhuaca), the older Caviah
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Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Mineral Resources Program, Alaska Science Center

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