Peter J Haeussler, Ph.D.
Biography
Education
Postdoctoral Researcher 1992-1994 U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, Alaska
Ph.D. 1991 University of California Santa Cruz Earth Sciences
B.S. 1984 Michigan State University Geology
Areas of Specialization and/or Research Interests
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
- 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 with me to discuss various proposal ideas.
- 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, Alaska
1992 - 1994 Postdoctoral Researcher, U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, Alaska
1992 Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California
1986 - 1991 Research Assistant, University of California Santa Cruz
1985 - 1988 Teaching Assistant, University of California Santa Cruz
1985 Geologist, Lancer Energy Corporation, Wilmore, Kentucky
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
Link between ridge subduction and gold mineralization in southern Alaska
40Ar/39Ar geochronology reveals that turbidite-hosted gold deposits in the southern Alaska accretionary prism are the same age as nearby near-trench plutons. These early Tertiary plutons and gold lodes formed above a slab window during subduction of an oceanic spreading center. Ridge subduction is a previously unrecognized tectonic process for the...
Haeussler, Peter J.; Bradley, Dwight C.; Goldfarb, Richard; Snee, Lawrence W.; Taylor, Cliff D. Mesothermal gold deposits of Westland, New Zealand and southern Alaska: Products of similar tectonic processes?
No abstract available.
Mauk, Jeffrey L.; St. George, J.D.; Goldfarb, R.J.; Christie, T.; Skinner, D.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Bradley, D.C. Possible active fault traces on or near the Castle Mountain fault between Houston and the Hatcher Pass Road: A section in RGeologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1993
The Castle Mountain fault is one of several major east-northeast-striking faults in southern Alaska, and it has had historical seismicity and Holocene surface faulting. The Castle Mountain fault was delineated on a regional scale by Detterman and others (1974, 1976), who divided it into two physiographic segments. Mapping in a 30-km-long region...
Haeussler, Peter J. Structural evolution of the Chugach-Prince William terrane at the hinge of the orocline in Prince William Sound, and implications for ore deposits: A section in Geologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1992
The Chugach-Prince William terrane is a Mesozoic through Tertiary accretionary complex that lies along coastal southern and southeastern Alaska. In Prince William Sound, the regional structural fabric bends about 90°, forming an orocline. Rocks at the hinge of the orocline consist of turbidites, conglomerate, and minor volcanic rocks and limestone...
Haeussler, Peter J.; Nelson, Steven W. Timing of early Tertiary ridge subduction in southern Alaska: A section in Geologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1992
We present a new compilation of 158 isotopic ages from Tertiary plutons that intrude the accretionary prism (Chugach-Prince William composite terrane) of southern Alaska. Two broad plutonic age groups are present: Paleocene to Eocene (the Sanak-Baranof plutonic belt), and Oligocene to Miocene. Plutons of the Sanak-Baranof belt are broadly coeval...
Bradley, Dwight C.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Kusky, Timothy M.
Map and compilation of structural data from lode-gold mineral occurrences in the Chugach-Prince William Terrane of Southern Alaska
Haeussler, Peter J.; Bradley, D.C. Tilting, burial, and uplift of the Guadalupe Igneous Complex, Sierra Nevada, California
It is often incorrectly assumed that plutons have a relatively uneventful structural history after emplacement. The 151 Ma Guadalupe Igneous Complex (GIC) in the Foothills Terrane, California, was involved in three post-emplacement events: (1) ∼30° of southwestside-up tilting during ductile regional faulting and contraction, (2) burial of the...
Haeussler, Peter J.; Paterson, Scott R. Paleomagnetism and geochronology of 23 Ma gabbroic intrusions in the Keku Strait, Alaska, and implications for the Alexander Terrane
Samples of Tertiary gabbro from 24 sites in the Keku Strait, Alaska, help constrain the displacement history of the Alexander terrane. Step heating experiments on a plagioclase separate from these previously undated intrusions indicate a discordant 40Ar/39Ar age of 23.1 ± 1.7 Ma. The characteristic magnetization resides in magnetite, is easily...
Haeussler, Peter J.; Coe, Robert S.; Renne, Paul R. Paleomagnetism of the Late Triassic Hound Island Volcanics: Revisited
The collision and accretion of the Alexander terrane profoundly influenced the geologic history of Alaska and western Canada; however, the terrane's displacement history is only poorly constrained by sparse paleomagnetic studies. We studied the paleomagnetism of the Hound Island Volcanics in order to evaluate the location of the Alexander terrane...
Haeussler, Peter J.; Coe, Robert S.; Onstott, T.C. Structural evolution of an arc-basin: The Gravina Belt in central southeastern Alaska
The upper Middle Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Gravina belt lies along the eastern margin of the Alexander terrane in southeastern Alaska. This group of turbidites and mafic to intermediate volcanic rocks was deformed during mid to Late Cretaceous time during the closing of a basin of unknown size between the Alexander terrane on the west and the...
Haeussler, Peter J.