Keith A Howard
Keith A. Howard is a Research Geologist Emeritus at the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center in Menlo Park, CA. Since joining the USGS in 1966, he had a diverse geologic career investigating a wide range of geologic processes. Presently, his reasearch includes volcanology, Colorado River evolution, granite, and extensional tectonics.
Keith has conducted lunar and planetary investigations, Apollo astronaut training and mission support (1960s and 1970s), and field studies of volcanic and impact structures. He led a team that made the first national map of active faults and fault provinces of the United States and Puerto Rico. He conceived the USGS climate-research program and led the effort to gain support for the program and its acceptance by Congress (1970s). He led the Pacific to Arizona Crustal Experiment, geologic-geophysical transect across the SW USA (1980s-1990s). He has authored a range of studies of landscape evolution, crustal structure, planetology, and igneous and tectonic processes.
Research Partners:
- Arizona Geological Survey
- National Science Foundation
- University of Wyoming
- University of Oregon
- Queensland Technical Institute
- Texas Tech University
- University of Florida
Professional Experience
2007-current, USGS Scientist Emeritus, Menlo Park, CA
2014, Lecturer, San Jose State University
1966-2006, USGS Research Geologist
1974, Visiting Faculty, University of South Florida
1962, USGS Geologist
1961, Engineering Geologist, McCreary-Koretsky Engineering
1960, Geologic Field Assistant, UC Berkeley
Education and Certifications
PhD, Geology, Yale, 1966
MS, Geological Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 1962
BS, Geological Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 1961
Affiliations and Memberships*
Geological Society of America, Elected Fellow, 1972
American Geophysical Union, 1969
Peninsula Geological Society, 1967; President 2008-2009
Geological Society of WA since 1975
Fullbright Asso.
Science and Products
A reinterpretation of the timing, position, and significance of part of the Sacramento Mountains detachment fault, southeastern California
Introduction to special section on the California-Arizona crustal transect: Part II
K-Ar and fission-track ages (dates) of volcanic, intrusive, altered, and metamorphic rocks in the Mohave Mountains area, west-central Arizona
Introduction to Special section on the California-Arizona crustal transect: Part I
The 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of the eastern Mojave Desert, California, and adjacent western Arizona with implications for the evolution of metamorphic core complexes
Pb isotopic evidence for the formation of Proterozoic crust in the southwestern United States
Mineral resources of the Whipple Mountains and Whipple Mountains Addition Wilderness Study Areas, San Bernardino County, California
Mineral resources of the Turtle Mountains Wilderness Study Area, San Bernardino County, California
Geologic map of the southern part of the Dale Lake 15-minute Quadrangle, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, California
Comment and reply on "Correlation of the Peach Springs Tuff, a large-volume Miocene ignimbrite sheet in California and Arizona"
Crustal extension along a rooted system of imbricate low-angle faults: Colorado River extensional corridor, California and Arizona
Metamorphic core complexes, Mesozoic ductile thrusts, and Cenozoic detachments: Old Woman Mountains: Chemehuevi Mountains transect, California and Arizona
Science and Products
A reinterpretation of the timing, position, and significance of part of the Sacramento Mountains detachment fault, southeastern California
Introduction to special section on the California-Arizona crustal transect: Part II
K-Ar and fission-track ages (dates) of volcanic, intrusive, altered, and metamorphic rocks in the Mohave Mountains area, west-central Arizona
Introduction to Special section on the California-Arizona crustal transect: Part I
The 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of the eastern Mojave Desert, California, and adjacent western Arizona with implications for the evolution of metamorphic core complexes
Pb isotopic evidence for the formation of Proterozoic crust in the southwestern United States
Mineral resources of the Whipple Mountains and Whipple Mountains Addition Wilderness Study Areas, San Bernardino County, California
Mineral resources of the Turtle Mountains Wilderness Study Area, San Bernardino County, California
Geologic map of the southern part of the Dale Lake 15-minute Quadrangle, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, California
Comment and reply on "Correlation of the Peach Springs Tuff, a large-volume Miocene ignimbrite sheet in California and Arizona"
Crustal extension along a rooted system of imbricate low-angle faults: Colorado River extensional corridor, California and Arizona
Metamorphic core complexes, Mesozoic ductile thrusts, and Cenozoic detachments: Old Woman Mountains: Chemehuevi Mountains transect, California and Arizona
*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