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
Volcanogenic massive sulphide and orogenic gold deposits of northern southeast Alaska
Field guide to the Mesozoic arc and accretionary complex of South-Central Alaska, Indian to Hatcher Pass
GIS-Based Identification of Areas with Mineral Resource Potential for Six Selected Deposit Groups, Bureau of Land Management Central Yukon Planning Area, Alaska
The Early Jurassic Bokan Mountain peralkaline granitic complex (southeastern Alaska): geochemistry, petrogenesis and rare-metal mineralization
Bokan Mountain peralkaline granitic complex, Alexander terrane (southeastern Alaska): evidence for Early Jurassic rifting prior to accretion with North America
ULFEM time series analysis package
Field guide to the accretionary complex and neotectonics of south-central Alaska, Anchorage to Seward
The Cannery Formation: Devonian to Early Permian arc-marginal deposits within the Alexander Terrane, southeastern Alaska
Fossil locations and data for the Taylor Mountains, and parts of the Bethel, Goodnews, and Dillingham quadrangles, southwestern Alaska
Geochemical and sulfur-isotopic signatures of volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits on Prince of Wales Island and vicinity, southeastern Alaska
Detrital zircon geochronology of some neoproterozoic to triassic rocks in interior Alaska
Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, 2005
Science and Products
- Science
- Data
- Maps
- Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 63
Volcanogenic massive sulphide and orogenic gold deposits of northern southeast Alaska
This five-day field trip visits the most significant mineral deposits in northern southeast Alaska. The trip begins and ends with regional transects in the interior Intermontane terranes around Whitehorse, Yukon, and the Insular terranes along the northern Chatham Strait region of southeast Alaska (Fig. A-1 and Fig. A-2; Plate-1). To put the deposits in a regional tectonic framework, the guidebookAuthorsPatrick J Sack, Susan M. Karl, Nathan Steeves, J Bruce GemmellField guide to the Mesozoic arc and accretionary complex of South-Central Alaska, Indian to Hatcher Pass
This field trip traverses exposures of a multi-generation Mesozoic magmatic arc and subduction-accretion complex that had a complicated history of magmatic activity and experienced variations in composition and deformational style in response to changes in the tectonic environment. This Mesozoic arc formed at an unknown latitude to the south, was accreted to North America, and was subsequently traAuthorsSusan M. Karl, P.J. Oswald, Chad P. HultsGIS-Based Identification of Areas with Mineral Resource Potential for Six Selected Deposit Groups, Bureau of Land Management Central Yukon Planning Area, Alaska
This study, covering the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Central Yukon Planning Area (CYPA), Alaska, was prepared to aid BLM mineral resource management planning. Estimated mineral resource potential and certainty are mapped for six selected mineral deposit groups: (1) rare earth element (REE) deposits associated with peralkaline to carbonatitic intrusive igneous rocks, (2) placer and paleoplacerAuthorsJames V. Jones, Susan M. Karl, Keith A. Labay, Nora B. Shew, Matthew Granitto, Timothy S. Hayes, Jeffrey L. Mauk, Jeanine M. Schmidt, Erin Todd, Bronwen Wang, Melanie B. Werdon, Douglas B. YagerThe Early Jurassic Bokan Mountain peralkaline granitic complex (southeastern Alaska): geochemistry, petrogenesis and rare-metal mineralization
The Early Jurassic (ca. 177 Ma) Bokan Mountain granitic complex, located on southern Prince of Wales Island, southernmost Alaska, cross-cuts Paleozoic igneous and metasedimentary rocks of the Alexander terrane of the North American Cordillera and was emplaced during a rifting event. The complex is a circular body (~3 km in diameter) of peralkaline granitic composition that has a core of arfvedsoniAuthorsJaroslav Dostal, Daniel J. Kontak, Susan M. KarlBokan Mountain peralkaline granitic complex, Alexander terrane (southeastern Alaska): evidence for Early Jurassic rifting prior to accretion with North America
The circular Bokan Mountain complex (BMC) on southern Prince of Wales Island, southernmost Alaska, is a Jurassic peralkaline granitic intrusion about 3 km in diameter that crosscuts igneous and metasedimentary rocks of the Alexander terrane. The BMC hosts significant rare metal (rare earth elements, Y, U, Th, Zr, and Nb) mineralization related to the last stage of BMC emplacement. U–Pb (zircon) anAuthorsJaroslav Dostal, Susan M. Karl, J. Duncan Keppie, Daniel J. Kontak, J. Gregory ShellnuttULFEM time series analysis package
This manual describes how to use the Ultra-Low-Frequency ElectroMagnetic (ULFEM) software package. Casual users can read the quick-start guide and will probably not need any more information than this. For users who may wish to modify the code, we provide further description of the routines.AuthorsSusan M. Karl, Darcy McPhee, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Simon L. KlempererField guide to the accretionary complex and neotectonics of south-central Alaska, Anchorage to Seward
No abstract available.AuthorsSusan M. Karl, Dwight C. Bradley, Rodney Combellick, Marti L. MillerThe Cannery Formation: Devonian to Early Permian arc-marginal deposits within the Alexander Terrane, southeastern Alaska
The Cannery Formation consists of green, red, and gray ribbon chert, siliceous siltstone, graywacke-chert turbidites, and volcaniclastic sandstone. Because it contains early Permian fossils at and near its type area in Cannery Cove, on Admiralty Island in southeastern Alaska, the formation was originally defined as a Permian stratigraphic unit. Similar rocks exposed in Windfall Harbor on AdmiraltyAuthorsSusan M. Karl, Paul W. Layer, Anita G. Harris, Peter J. Haeussler, Benita L. MurcheyFossil locations and data for the Taylor Mountains, and parts of the Bethel, Goodnews, and Dillingham quadrangles, southwestern Alaska
Information about fossils collected by U.S. Geological Survey, State of Alaska, academic, and industry geologists that have been reported in literature or archived in reports from the former U.S. Geological Survey Branch of Paleontology and Stratigraphy are compiled on a plate and table in this report to provide comprehensive paleontologic age data for the Taylor Mountains quadrangle area in southAuthorsSusan M. Karl, R. B. Blodgett, Keith A. Labay, S. E. Box, D. C. Bradley, Marti L. Miller, W. K. Wallace, J.F. BaichtalGeochemical and sulfur-isotopic signatures of volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits on Prince of Wales Island and vicinity, southeastern Alaska
Stratabound volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits on Prince of Wales Island and vicinity, southeastern Alaska, occur in two volcanosedimentary sequences of Late Proterozoic through Cambrian and of Ordovician through Early Silurian age. This study presents geochemical data on sulfide-rich samples, in situ laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of sulfide minerAuthorsJohn F. Slack, Wayne C. Shanks, Susan M. Karl, Pamela A. Gemery, Peter E. Bittenbender, W. Ian RidleyDetrital zircon geochronology of some neoproterozoic to triassic rocks in interior Alaska
No abstract available.AuthorsD. C. Bradley, W.C. McClelland, J. L. Wooden, A. B. Till, S. M. Roeske, Marti L. Miller, Susan M. Karl, J.G. AbbottStudies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, 2005
Summary The collection of papers that follows continues the series of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) investigative reports in Alaska under the broad umbrella of the geologic sciences. This series represents new and sometimes-preliminary findings that are of interest to Earth scientists in academia, government, and industry; to land and resource managers; and to the general public. The reports preseAuthorsDavid W. Houseknecht, Kenneth J. Bird, Michelle L. Coombs, Christina A. Neal, Rick L. Wessels, Robert G. McGimsey, John F. Slack, W.C. Pat Shanks, Susan M. Karl, Pamela A. Gemery, Peter E. Bittenbender, W. Ian Ridley, W. Matthew Burns, Daniel O. Hayba, Elisabeth L. Rowan, Robert A. Ayuso, Peter J. Haeussler, Gregory A. Wandless, Anna Colvin - 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