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
Geologic Map of Central (Interior) Alaska
Introduction: This map and associated digital databases are the result of a compilation and reinterpretation of published and unpublished 1:250,000- and limited 1:125,000- and 1:63,360-scale mapping. The map area covers approximately 416,000 sq km (134,000 sq mi) and encompasses 25 1:250,000-scale quadrangles in central Alaska. The compilation...
Wilson, Frederic H.; Dover, James H.; Bradley, Dwight C.; Weber, Florence R.; Bundtzen, Thomas K.; Haeussler, Peter J.
Surficial geologic map along the Castle Mountain Fault between Houston and Hatcher Pass Road, Alaska
The surficial geology of the map area is dominated by sedimentary deposits laid down during and after the Naptowne glaciation (Karlstrom, 1964) of late Pleistocene age. During this episode, a large valley glacier flowed westward down the Matanuska Valley along the southern flank of the Talkeetna Mountains. The youngest of two documented advances...
Haeussler, Peter J.
Controls on accretion of flysch and melange belts at convergent margins: evidence from the Chugach Bay thrust and Iceworm melange, Chugach accretionary wedge, Alaska
Controls on accretion of flysch and melange terranes at convergent margins are poorly understood. Southern Alaska's Chugach terrane forms the outboard accretionary margin of the Wrangellia composite terrane, and consists of two major lithotectonic units, including Triassic-Cretaceous melange of the McHugh Complex and Late Cretaceous flysch of the...
Kusky, Timothy M.; Bradley, Dwight C.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Karl, Susan M. Field guide to the Mesozoic accretionary complex along Turnagain Arm and Kachemak Bay, south-central Alaska
Turnagain Arm, just east of Anchorage, provides a readily accessible, world-class cross section through a Mesozoic accretionary wedge. Nearly continuous exposures along the Seward Highway, the Alaska Railroad, and the shoreline of Turnagain Arm display the two main constituent units of the Chugach terrane: the McHugh Complex and Valdez Group. In...
Bradley, Dwight C.; Kusky, Timothy M.; Karl, Susan M.; Haeussler, Peter J. Seismic sources in southcentral Alaska: A review, results of recent research, and a reappraisal
No abstract available.
Haeussler, Peter J. A link between ridge subduction and gold mineralization in southern Alaska
No abstract available.
Haeussler, Peter J.
Earthquake information needs in south-central Alaska
Page, R.A.; Haeussler, Peter J.
Earthquakes in Alaska
Earthquake risk is high in much of the southern half of Alaska, but it is not the same everywhere. This map shows the overall geologic setting in Alaska that produces earthquakes. The Pacific plate (darker blue) is sliding northwestward past southeastern Alaska and then dives beneath the North American plate (light blue, green, and brown) in...
Haeussler, Peter J.; Plafker, George 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.