West Susitna geologic mapping

Project Details

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• Project ID:

  1685

• Nickname/Abbreviation:

  West Susitna

• Parent Project:

  Hydrology & Surficial Geology Section projects

• Status:

  Active

• Description:

  Surficial and bedrock geologic mapping of the north-central Tyonek Quadrangle, south-central Alaska. The area of interest is along the eastern margin of the western Alaska Range at the junction of the Cook Inlet and Susitna hydrocarbon basins west of the Susitna and Yentna rivers. This project focuses on a proposed access corridor being pursued by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) to an area with potential mineral, oil, and gas resource exploration, forestry and timber harvesting, agricultural resources, alternative energy, and recreation interests for Alaskans. FY2023 STATEMAP grant no. G23AC00584-00.
  Program objectives include:
  
  1) Assess location, quality & quantity of construction materials
  2) Identify unstable slopes and potentially active faults
  3) Fill in a critical gap in bedrock geologic mapping between two prospective hydrocarbon basins.
  
  Field photos taken during the project can be found in the DGGS photo database

• Project Date(s):

  2023 - present

• Primary Contact:

  Hubbard, Trent D.

• DGGS section:

  Hydrology and Surficial Geology

• Project Participants:

  Robert J. Gillis, Trent D. Hubbard, J. Barrett Salisbury, Sandra L. Walser, Angie V. Diaz, Louis G. Jovanovich, John D. Bernt

• Stations/Samples:

  View list

Publications

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PIR 2026-1

Walser, S.L., Gillis, R.J., Bernt, J.D., Salisbury, J.B., Diaz, A.V., and Hubbard, T.D., 2026, Geologic map of the West Susitna area, parts of the Tyonek C-3, C-4, D-4, and D-5 quadrangles, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Preliminary Interpretive Report 2026-1, 10 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:50,000. https://doi.org/10.14509/32075

RDF 2026-8

Gillis, R.J., Walser, S.L., Bernt, J.D., and O'Sullivan, P.B., 2026, Zircon U-Pb geochronology for bedrock samples from the West Susitna STATEMAP project, southcentral, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Raw Data File 2026-8, 9 p. https://doi.org/10.14509/31972

RDF 2025-27

Zippi, P.A., Walser, S.L., Gillis, R.J., and Montayne, Simone, 2025, Palynological and thermal maturity analysis of outcrop samples from the West Susitna area STATEMAP project, southcentral, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Raw Data File 2025-27, 3 p. https://doi.org/10.14509/31734

RDF 2025-21

Walser, S.L., Gillis, R.J., Bernt, J.D., and Montayne, Simone, 2025, Major-oxide and trace-element analyses of rock samples from the West Susitna area STATEMAP project, southcentral, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Raw Data File 2025-21, 2 p. https://doi.org/10.14509/31725

RDF 2025-12

Zechmann, J.M., and Salisbury, J.B., 2025, Lidar-derived surface elevation data for Dickason Highlands, southcentral Alaska, collected August 14, 2024: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Raw Data File 2025-12, 10 p. https://doi.org/10.14509/31536