Susan Karl
Sedimentology, stratigraphy, tectonics, geochemistry, and economic geology of southeast Alaska
Professional Experience
1977 - Present Research Geologist, USGS Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, AK
1976 Earth Science Associates, Palo Alto, CA
1975 WGM Inc., Brooks Range, AK
1974 Rio Tinto Ltd., Wrangell Mts, AK
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. 1982 Stanford University
Classes 1975-1976 University of Alaska Fairbanks
B.A. 1973 Middlebury College
Affiliations and Memberships*
Fellow: Geological Soc. America
Member: American Geophysical Union, American Assoc. Petrol. Geol., Geological Assoc. Canada, Society of Economic Geologists
Short course committee chair: Alaska Miners Association
Board member, committee chair, past president, officer: Alaska Geological Society
Honors and Awards
Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists: Lifetime service award, May 2016, for contributions to the Alaska geological community
Outstanding Accomplishment award 11-18-2011 for contributions to understanding REE in southeast Alaska
Outstanding Accomplishment award 11-22-2010 for advances in southeast Alaska geology
Outstanding Accomplishment award 9-22-2009 for work with Yukon Territory, British Columbia, and Alaskan geologists to coordinate cross-border geology
USGS: STAR award 1999 for Stikine area geophysical survey follow-up project (Duncan Canal/Zarembo Island area VMS deposits)
Alaska Geol. Soc: Service award, 1995
UNESCO: Grant for IGCP Siliceous Deposits Conference (Yugoslavia), 1986
USGS: Graduate internship scholarship 1981, 1982
UNESCO: Grant for IGCP Siliceous Deposits Conference (Tokyo), 1981
Geol. Soc. America: Grant for thesis research 1981
Sigma Xi: Grant for thesis research, 1980, 1981
USGS Achievement Award 1979
Shell: Grant for Melange Penrose Conference, 1978
Geol. Soc. Amer: Harold Stearns Award and grant for thesis research, 1978
UAF: grant for field camp 1976
Science and Products
Constraints on the age and provenance of the Chugach accretionary complex from detrital zircons in the Sitka Graywacke near Sitka, Alaska
Major- and trace-element concentrations in rock samples collected in 2004 from the Taylor Mountains 1:250,000-scale quadrangle, Alaska
Oceanic Pb-isotopic sources of Proterozoic and Paleozoic volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits on Prince of Wales Island and vicinity, southeastern Alaska
Ordovician "sphinctozoan" sponges from Prince of Wales Island, southeastern Alaska
Metamorphism within the Chugach accretionary complex on southern Baranof Island, southeastern Alaska
Geologic signature of early Tertiary ridge subduction in Alaska
Geophysical signatures used to constrain geologic mapping, narrowing the search for VMS deposits in southeast Alaska
Outcrop structural data from Wales Group and adjacent rocks, Dall and Prince of Wales islands, southeastern Alaska
Outcrop structural data from parts of the Petersburg and Sumdum 1:250,000-scale quadrangles, southeastern Alaska
Preliminary geologic map of northeast Chichagof Island, Alaska
Reconnaissance geologic map of the Duncan Canal-Zarembo Island area, southeastern Alaska
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 63
Constraints on the age and provenance of the Chugach accretionary complex from detrital zircons in the Sitka Graywacke near Sitka, Alaska
The Sitka Graywacke is the westernmost and youngest unit of the Chugach accretionary complex in southeastern Alaska. Using laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy, we obtained 492 detrital-zircon ages on seven typical samples of Sitka Graywacke turbidites, which were collected in a transect across much of the unit near Sitka, Alaska. Individual grains range in age from 66 to 1,AuthorsPeter J. Haeussler, George E. Gehrels, Susan M. KarlMajor- and trace-element concentrations in rock samples collected in 2004 from the Taylor Mountains 1:250,000-scale quadrangle, Alaska
The Kuskokwim mineral belt of Bundtzen and Miller (1997) forms an important metallogenic region in southwestern Alaska that has yielded more than 3.22 million ounces of gold and 400,000 ounces of silver. Precious-metal and related deposits in this region associated with Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary igneous complexes extend into the Taylor Mountains 1:250,000-scale quadrangle. The U.S. GeologiAuthorsEdward P. Klimasauskas, Marti L. Miller, Dwight C. Bradley, Susan M. Karl, James F. Baichtal, Robert B. BlodgettOceanic Pb-isotopic sources of Proterozoic and Paleozoic volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits on Prince of Wales Island and vicinity, southeastern Alaska
Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits on Prince of Wales Island and vicinity in southeastern Alaska are associated with Late Proterozoic through Cambrian volcanosedimentary rocks of the Wales Group and with Ordovician through Early Silurian felsic volcanic rocks of the Moira Sound unit (new informal name). The massive sulfide deposits in the Wales Group include the Big Harbor, Copper City, CAuthorsRobert A. Ayuso, Susan M. Karl, John F. Slack, Peter J. Haeussler, Peter E. Bittenbender, Gregory A. Wandless, Anna ColvinOrdovician "sphinctozoan" sponges from Prince of Wales Island, southeastern Alaska
A faunule of silicified hypercalcified "sphinctozoan" sponges has been recovered from a clast of Upper Ordovician limestone out of the Early Devonian Karheen Formation on Prince of Wales Island in southeastern Alaska. Included in the faunule are abundant examples of the new genus Girtyocoeliana, represented by Girtyocoeliana epiporata (Rigby and Potter), and Corymbospongia adnata Rigby and Potter,AuthorsJ.K. Rigby, Susan M. Karl, R. B. Blodgett, J.F. BaichtalMetamorphism within the Chugach accretionary complex on southern Baranof Island, southeastern Alaska
On Baranof Island, southeastern Alaska, we identify four metamorphic events that affect rocks associated with the Chugach accretionary complex. This study focuses on the M1 and M4 metamorphic events. Mesozoic schists, gneisses, and migmatitic gneisses exposed near the Kasnyku pluton on central Baranof Island represent the M1 metamorphic rocks. These rocks underwent amphibolite facies metamorphism.AuthorsCathy L. Zumsteg, Glen R. Himmelberg, Susan M. Karl, Peter J. HaeusslerGeologic signature of early Tertiary ridge subduction in Alaska
A mid-Paleocene to early Eocene encounter between an oceanic spreading center and a subduction zone produced a wide range of geologic features in Alaska. The most striking effects are seen in the accretionary prism (Chugach–Prince William terrane), where 61 to 50 Ma near-trench granitic to gabbroic plutons were intruded into accreted trench sediments that had been deposited only a few million yearAuthorsDwight C. Bradley, Timothy M. Kusky, Peter J. Haeussler, Richard J. Goldfarb, Marti L. Miller, Julie A. Dumoulin, Steven W. Nelson, Susan M. KarlGeophysical signatures used to constrain geologic mapping, narrowing the search for VMS deposits in southeast Alaska
No abstract available.AuthorsJeff Wynn, Jon P. Doucette, Susan M. Karl, Anne E. McCafferty, Bruce D. Smith, Peter BittenbenderOutcrop 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). These data are listed in Excel spreadsheet, tab-AuthorsPeter J. Haeussler, Susan M. Karl, Keith A. LabayOutcrop 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 are listed in spreadsheet and derivative formats.AuthorsPeter J. Haeussler, Susan M. KarlPreliminary geologic map of northeast Chichagof Island, Alaska
No abstract available.AuthorsSusan M. KarlReconnaissance 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, conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1978 to 1982AuthorsSusan M. Karl, Peter J. Haeussler, Anne E. McCafferty - News
*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