Peter J Haeussler, Ph.D.
Most of my research is related to earthquake and tsunami hazards in Alaska, with a focus on paleoseismology, submarine landslides, and active faulting. I am the Alaska Coordinator for the Earthquake Hazards Program of the USGS. I also study various aspects of the framework geology of Alaska, with a focus on neotectonics and tectonics.
I use various tools to understand earthquakes and earthquake hazards in Alaska. I’ve studied the tectonic evolution of parts of Alaska, accretionary prisms along Alaska’s margin, forearc and splay faulting, submarine landslides, mountain building and exhumation, landscape evolution, glacial histories, and sedimentary basins. I’ve worked with marine and terrestrial seismic reflection and potential field data. Current work is focused on lacustrine paleoseismology, splay faulting, and various seismic hazards projects.
Professional Experience
1994 - Present Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, AK
1992 - 1994 Postdoctoral Researcher, U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, AK
1992 Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
1986 - 1991 Research Assistant, University of California Santa Cruz
1985 - 1988 Teaching Assistant, University of California Santa Cruz
1985 Geologist, Lancer Energy Corporation, Wilmore, KY
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. 1991 University of California Santa Cruz Earth Sciences
B.S. 1984 Michigan State University Geology
Affiliations and Memberships*
1985-present, American Geophysical Union
1985-present, Geological Society of America
1992-present, Alaska Geological Society
2010-present, Seismological Society of America
Honors and Awards
Fellow, Geological Society of America
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 25
Geologic Inputs for the 2023 Alaska Update to the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) Geologic Inputs for the 2023 Alaska Update to the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM)
This data release is composed of three crustal (as opposed to subduction zone) geologic input datasets for the 2023 Alaska update to the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM): 1) fault section vector line data, 2) fault zone vector polygon data, and 3) accompanying earthquake geology attributes.
Alaska Fault Trace Mapping, 2021 Alaska Fault Trace Mapping, 2021
This dataset provides a detailed (1:10,000) digital map of fault and fold traces in Alaska, USA based on features identified in the freely available ArcticDEM 3.0. The fault traces represented in this dataset either revise the location and accuracy of known active faults or folds archived in the USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database, or represent the surface traces of active structures...
Airborne Lidar-based Digital Elevation Models of Coastal Montague Island (Alaska) Acquired September 2018 Airborne Lidar-based Digital Elevation Models of Coastal Montague Island (Alaska) Acquired September 2018
This dataset provides a digital elevation model mosaic derived from airborne lidar data acquired in 2018 from September 2–3 over eight separate areas along Alaska's Montague Island coast, between Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska.
U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Titanite and Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from the Western Alaska Range, Alaska U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Titanite and Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from the Western Alaska Range, Alaska
This dataset contains U-Pb isotopic data and associated ages of titanite from one sample and detrital zircon grains from 33 sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks collected from the western Alaska Range in south-central Alaska. The samples were collected as part of geological mapping and research conducted between 2010 and 2014 and funded by the Mineral Resources Program of the U.S...
Multibeam and multichannel sparker seismic-reflection data between Cross Sound and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska, collected from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12 during field activity 2016-625-FA Multibeam and multichannel sparker seismic-reflection data between Cross Sound and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska, collected from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12 during field activity 2016-625-FA
Multibeam bathymetry and multisparker data were collected along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault between Icy Point and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12.
Multichannel minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data of field activity 2015-651-FA; Chatham Strait and Cross Sound, southeastern Alaska from 2015-08-03 to 2015-08-21 Multichannel minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data of field activity 2015-651-FA; Chatham Strait and Cross Sound, southeastern Alaska from 2015-08-03 to 2015-08-21
High-resolution multichannel minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data were collected in August of 2015 to explore marine geologic hazards of inland waterways of southeastern Alaska. Sub-bottom profiles were acquired in the inland waters between Glacier Bay and Juneau, including Cross Sound and Chatham Strait. High-resolution seismic-reflection profiles were acquired to assess...
Filter Total Items: 154
Extreme Quaternary plate boundary exhumation and strike slip localized along the southern Fairweather fault, Alaska, USA Extreme Quaternary plate boundary exhumation and strike slip localized along the southern Fairweather fault, Alaska, USA
The Fairweather fault (southeastern Alaska, USA) is Earth’s fastest-slipping intracontinental strike-slip fault, but its long-term role in localizing Yakutat–(Pacific–)North America plate motion is poorly constrained. This plate boundary fault transitions northward from pure strike slip to transpression where it comes onshore and undergoes a 6–8 km/m.y. exhumation rates that increases in...
Authors
Richard O. Lease, Peter J. Haeussler, Robert C. Witter, Daniel F. Stockli, Adrian Bender, Harvey Kelsey, Paul O’Sullivan
Cretaceous to Oligocene magmatic and tectonic evolution of the western Alaska Range: Insights from U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology 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...
Authors
James V. Jones, Erin Todd, Stephen E. Box, Peter J. Haeussler, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Susan M. Karl, Garth E. Graham, Dwight Bradley, Andrew R.C. Kylander-Clark, Richard M. Friedman, Paul W. Layer
Detection and assessment of a large and potentially tsunamigenic periglacial landslide in Barry Arm, Alaska Detection and assessment of a large and potentially tsunamigenic periglacial landslide in Barry Arm, Alaska
The retreat of glaciers in response to global warming has the potential to trigger landslides in glaciated regions around the globe. Landslides that enter fjords or lakes can cause tsunamis, which endanger people and infrastructure far from the landslide itself. Here we document the ongoing movement of an unstable slope (total volume of 455 million m3) in Barry Arm, a fjord in Prince...
Authors
Chunli Dai, Bretwood Higman, Patrick J. Lynett, Mylene Jacquemart, Ian Howat, Anna K. Liljedahl, Anja Dufresne, Jeffery T. Freymueller, Marten Geertsema, Melissa Ward Jones, Peter J. Haeussler
The Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment The Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment
The Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment (AACSE) is a shoreline‐crossing passive‐ and active‐source seismic experiment that took place from May 2018 through August 2019 along an ∼700 km∼700 km long section of the Aleutian subduction zone spanning Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula. The experiment featured 105 broadband seismometers; 30 were deployed onshore, and 75 were...
Authors
C. Grace Barcheck, Geoffrey A. Abers, Aubreya N. Adams, Anne Becel, John A. Collins, James B. Gaherty, Peter J. Haeussler, Zongshan Li, Ginevra Moore, Evans Onyango, Emily C. Roland, Daniel E. Sampson, Susan Y. Schwartz, Anne F Sheehan, Donna J. Shillington, Patrick J Shore, Spahr Webb, Douglas A Wiens, Lindsay L Worthington
Three-dimensional shape and structure of the Susitna basin, south-central Alaska, from geophysical data Three-dimensional shape and structure of the Susitna basin, south-central Alaska, from geophysical data
We use gravity, magnetic, seismic reflection, well, and outcrop data to determine the three-dimensional shape and structural features of south-central Alaska’s Susitna basin. This basin is located within the Aleutian-Alaskan convergent margin region and is expected to show effects of regional subduction zone processes. Aeromagnetic data, when filtered to highlight anomalies associated...
Authors
Anjana K. Shah, Jeffrey Phillips, Kristen A. Lewis, Richard G. Stanley, Peter J. Haeussler, Christopher J. Potter
Submarine landslide kinematics derived from high-resolution imaging in Port Valdez, Alaska Submarine landslide kinematics derived from high-resolution imaging in Port Valdez, Alaska
Submarine landslides caused by strong ground shaking during the M9.2 1964 Great Alaska earthquake generated a tsunami that destroyed much of the old town of Valdez, Alaska, and was responsible for 32 deaths at that location. We explore structural details of the 1964 landslide deposit, as well as landslide deposits from earlier events, in order to characterize kinematics of the landslide...
Authors
Emily Roland, Peter J. Haeussler, Thomas E. Parsons, Patrick E. Hart
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 25
Geologic Inputs for the 2023 Alaska Update to the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) Geologic Inputs for the 2023 Alaska Update to the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM)
This data release is composed of three crustal (as opposed to subduction zone) geologic input datasets for the 2023 Alaska update to the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM): 1) fault section vector line data, 2) fault zone vector polygon data, and 3) accompanying earthquake geology attributes.
Alaska Fault Trace Mapping, 2021 Alaska Fault Trace Mapping, 2021
This dataset provides a detailed (1:10,000) digital map of fault and fold traces in Alaska, USA based on features identified in the freely available ArcticDEM 3.0. The fault traces represented in this dataset either revise the location and accuracy of known active faults or folds archived in the USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database, or represent the surface traces of active structures...
Airborne Lidar-based Digital Elevation Models of Coastal Montague Island (Alaska) Acquired September 2018 Airborne Lidar-based Digital Elevation Models of Coastal Montague Island (Alaska) Acquired September 2018
This dataset provides a digital elevation model mosaic derived from airborne lidar data acquired in 2018 from September 2–3 over eight separate areas along Alaska's Montague Island coast, between Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska.
U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Titanite and Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from the Western Alaska Range, Alaska U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Titanite and Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from the Western Alaska Range, Alaska
This dataset contains U-Pb isotopic data and associated ages of titanite from one sample and detrital zircon grains from 33 sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks collected from the western Alaska Range in south-central Alaska. The samples were collected as part of geological mapping and research conducted between 2010 and 2014 and funded by the Mineral Resources Program of the U.S...
Multibeam and multichannel sparker seismic-reflection data between Cross Sound and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska, collected from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12 during field activity 2016-625-FA Multibeam and multichannel sparker seismic-reflection data between Cross Sound and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska, collected from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12 during field activity 2016-625-FA
Multibeam bathymetry and multisparker data were collected along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault between Icy Point and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12.
Multichannel minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data of field activity 2015-651-FA; Chatham Strait and Cross Sound, southeastern Alaska from 2015-08-03 to 2015-08-21 Multichannel minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data of field activity 2015-651-FA; Chatham Strait and Cross Sound, southeastern Alaska from 2015-08-03 to 2015-08-21
High-resolution multichannel minisparker and chirp seismic-reflection data were collected in August of 2015 to explore marine geologic hazards of inland waterways of southeastern Alaska. Sub-bottom profiles were acquired in the inland waters between Glacier Bay and Juneau, including Cross Sound and Chatham Strait. High-resolution seismic-reflection profiles were acquired to assess...
Filter Total Items: 154
Extreme Quaternary plate boundary exhumation and strike slip localized along the southern Fairweather fault, Alaska, USA Extreme Quaternary plate boundary exhumation and strike slip localized along the southern Fairweather fault, Alaska, USA
The Fairweather fault (southeastern Alaska, USA) is Earth’s fastest-slipping intracontinental strike-slip fault, but its long-term role in localizing Yakutat–(Pacific–)North America plate motion is poorly constrained. This plate boundary fault transitions northward from pure strike slip to transpression where it comes onshore and undergoes a 6–8 km/m.y. exhumation rates that increases in...
Authors
Richard O. Lease, Peter J. Haeussler, Robert C. Witter, Daniel F. Stockli, Adrian Bender, Harvey Kelsey, Paul O’Sullivan
Cretaceous to Oligocene magmatic and tectonic evolution of the western Alaska Range: Insights from U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology 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...
Authors
James V. Jones, Erin Todd, Stephen E. Box, Peter J. Haeussler, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Susan M. Karl, Garth E. Graham, Dwight Bradley, Andrew R.C. Kylander-Clark, Richard M. Friedman, Paul W. Layer
Detection and assessment of a large and potentially tsunamigenic periglacial landslide in Barry Arm, Alaska Detection and assessment of a large and potentially tsunamigenic periglacial landslide in Barry Arm, Alaska
The retreat of glaciers in response to global warming has the potential to trigger landslides in glaciated regions around the globe. Landslides that enter fjords or lakes can cause tsunamis, which endanger people and infrastructure far from the landslide itself. Here we document the ongoing movement of an unstable slope (total volume of 455 million m3) in Barry Arm, a fjord in Prince...
Authors
Chunli Dai, Bretwood Higman, Patrick J. Lynett, Mylene Jacquemart, Ian Howat, Anna K. Liljedahl, Anja Dufresne, Jeffery T. Freymueller, Marten Geertsema, Melissa Ward Jones, Peter J. Haeussler
The Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment The Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment
The Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment (AACSE) is a shoreline‐crossing passive‐ and active‐source seismic experiment that took place from May 2018 through August 2019 along an ∼700 km∼700 km long section of the Aleutian subduction zone spanning Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula. The experiment featured 105 broadband seismometers; 30 were deployed onshore, and 75 were...
Authors
C. Grace Barcheck, Geoffrey A. Abers, Aubreya N. Adams, Anne Becel, John A. Collins, James B. Gaherty, Peter J. Haeussler, Zongshan Li, Ginevra Moore, Evans Onyango, Emily C. Roland, Daniel E. Sampson, Susan Y. Schwartz, Anne F Sheehan, Donna J. Shillington, Patrick J Shore, Spahr Webb, Douglas A Wiens, Lindsay L Worthington
Three-dimensional shape and structure of the Susitna basin, south-central Alaska, from geophysical data Three-dimensional shape and structure of the Susitna basin, south-central Alaska, from geophysical data
We use gravity, magnetic, seismic reflection, well, and outcrop data to determine the three-dimensional shape and structural features of south-central Alaska’s Susitna basin. This basin is located within the Aleutian-Alaskan convergent margin region and is expected to show effects of regional subduction zone processes. Aeromagnetic data, when filtered to highlight anomalies associated...
Authors
Anjana K. Shah, Jeffrey Phillips, Kristen A. Lewis, Richard G. Stanley, Peter J. Haeussler, Christopher J. Potter
Submarine landslide kinematics derived from high-resolution imaging in Port Valdez, Alaska Submarine landslide kinematics derived from high-resolution imaging in Port Valdez, Alaska
Submarine landslides caused by strong ground shaking during the M9.2 1964 Great Alaska earthquake generated a tsunami that destroyed much of the old town of Valdez, Alaska, and was responsible for 32 deaths at that location. We explore structural details of the 1964 landslide deposit, as well as landslide deposits from earlier events, in order to characterize kinematics of the landslide...
Authors
Emily Roland, Peter J. Haeussler, Thomas E. Parsons, Patrick E. Hart
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government