Peter J Haeussler, Ph.D.
I am the Alaska Coordinator for the Earthquake Hazards Program of the USGS. I provide input to the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program Council on Alaska issues and I am the Alaska coordinator for the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program external grants program. Feel free to contact me to discuss various proposal ideas.
Biography
Education
Ph.D. 1991 University of California Santa Cruz Earth Sciences
B.S. 1984 Michigan State University Geology
Earthquake hazards
Onshore-offshore study of the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault system.
Identification and characterization of seismic sources across southern Alaska, including the Castle Mountain fault, Denali fault, Totschunda fault, Broad Pass fault, Patton Bay thrust, Cape Cleare thrust, and fault cored folds in the Cook Inlet and Susitna basins.
Paleoseismology of the Alaska-Aleutian megathrust from coastal marsh and lake records.
I am strongly interested in improving our understanding of active and recent deformation in Alaska, whether it is onshore or offshore, using any types of data that shed light on the most recent geologic history of the state.
Submarine landslides
Characterization and description of submarine landslides in coastal fjords of southern Alaska generated by the 1964 M9.2 earthquake
Framework geology
Geology of the western Alaska Range and southeastern Alaska
Cook Inlet, Susitna, and Peters Hills basin geology
Accretionary complex history and record of ridge subduction
Alaska Earthquake Hazards Media Experience
I frequently discuss earthquake hazards and Alaskan geology with the media. I have appeared on, and provided input to, the National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, History Channel, Nightline, Frontline, and numerous other local and regional media outlets.
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
Professional Activities and/or 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/or Awards
Fellow, Geological Society of America
Science and Products
Magnetic susceptibilities measured on rocks of the upper Cook Inlet, Alaska
We have measured magnetic susceptibility in the field on most of the geologic rock formations exposed in the upper Cook Inlet near Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska. Measured susceptibilities range from less than our detection limit of 0.01 x 10-3 (SI) to greater than 100 x 10-3 (SI). As expected, mafic igneous rocks have the highest susceptibilities...
Alstatt, A.A.; Saltus, R.W.; Bruhn, R.L.; Haeussler, Peter J.
Life and death of the Resurrection Plate
No abstract available.
Haeussler, Peter J.; Bradley, D. C.; Wells, R. E.; Miller, Marti L. Paleoseismology at high latitudes: Seismic disturbance of upper Quaternary deposits along the Castle Mountain fault near Houston, Alaska
Most paleoseismic studies are at low to moderate latitudes. Here we present results from a high-latitude (61°30′ N) trenching study of the Castle Mountain fault in south-central Alaska. This fault is the only one known in the greater Anchorage, Alaska, area with historical seismicity and a Holocene fault scarp. It strikes east-northeast and cuts...
Haeussler, Peter J.; Best, Timothy C.; Waythomas, Christopher F. GIS coverages of the Castle Mountain Fault, south central Alaska
The Castle Mountain fault is one of several major east-northeast-striking faults in southern Alaska, and it is the only fault with had historic seismicity and Holocene surface faulting. This report is a digital compilation of three maps along the Castle Mountain fault in south central Alaska. This compilation consists only of GIS coverages of the...
Labay, Keith A.; Haeussler, Peter J.
Outcrop structural data from Wales Group and adjacent rocks, Dall and Prince of Wales islands, southeastern Alaska
This report presents a compilation of 3224 measurements of outcrop structures from Wales Group and adjacent strata on Dall and Prince of Wales Islands, southeastern Alaska. We collected 2230 measurements, an additional 344 were digitized from the map of Eberlein and others (1983), and an additional 650 come from the map of Herreid and others (1978...
Haeussler, Peter J.; Karl, Susan M.; Labay, Keith A. Outcrop structural data from parts of the Petersburg and Sumdum 1:250,000-scale quadrangles, southeastern Alaska
This report presents a compilation of 4203 measurements of outcrop structures from part of the Petersburg 1:250,000-scale quadrangle in southeastern Alaska. We collected 1966 measurements, and an additional 2237 unpublished measurements were compiled from field notebooks a from a field mapping effort in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. These data...
Haeussler, Peter J.; Karl, Susan M. Anchorage urban region aeromagnetics (AURA) project -- preliminary geophysical results
Saltus, R.W.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Bracken, R. E.; Doucette, J.P.; Jachens, R. C.
Geologic map of the Wildcat Lake 7.5' quadrangle, Kitsap and Mason Counties, Washington
The Wildcat Lake quadrangle lies in the forearc of the Cascadia subduction zone, about 20-km east of the Cascadia accretionary complex exposed in the Olympic Mountains (Tabor and Cady, 1978),and about 100-km west of the axis of the Cascades volcanic arc. The quadrangle lies near the middle of the Puget Lowland, which typically has elevations less...
Haeussler, Peter J.; Clark, Kenneth P. Potential seismic hazards and tectonics of the upper Cook Inlet basin, Alaska, based on analysis of Pliocene and younger deformation
The Cook Inlet basin is a northeast-trending forearc basin above the Aleutian subduction zone in southern Alaska. Folds in Cook Inlet are complex, discontinuous structures with variable shape and vergence that probably developed by right-transpressional deformation on oblique-slip faults extending downward into Mesozoic basement beneath the...
Haeussler, Peter J.; Bruhn, Ronald L.; Pratt, Thomas L. The bedrock geology of Seattle
No abstract available.
Haugerud, R.A.; Haeussler, Peter J.
Preliminary geologic map of the Chugach National Forest Special Study Area, Alaska
In 1990, both the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines were contacted by the Chugach National Forest (CNF) for the purpose of providing mineral resource information for the CNF Master Plan during the planning period fiscal years 1991-1994. This information is to address the terms and requirements of the 1986 Settlement Agreement and to...
Nelson, Steven W.; Miller, Marti L.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Snee, Lawrence W.; Philips, Patti J.; Huber, Carol Reconnaissance Geologic Map of the Duncan Canal-Zarembo Island Area, Southeastern Alaska
The geologic map of the Duncan Canal-Zarembo Island area is the result of a multidisciplinary investigation of an area where an airborne geophysical survey was flown in the spring of 1997. The area was chosen for the geophysical survey because of its high mineral potential, a conclusion of the Petersburg Mineral Resource Assessment Project,...
Karl, Susan M.; Haeussler, Peter J.; McCafferty, Anne E.