(1938- ) American Structural Geologist
Arthur Sylvester has two main areas of interest in research, deformation associated with pluton emplacement and strike-slip deformation. When a magma intrudes preexisting rock units, it imposes a complex deformation sequence on them. Granite and granitic plutons best display these sequences. The magma intrudes in an elongate inverted teardrop shape that rises through the crust to a level where its buoyancy is balanced by the pressure of the surrounding rock. At that point, the bulbous top of the tear drop stops moving but the tail continues to rise and adds its volume to the bulbous part causing it to balloon. The initial intrusion causes some deformation, and the ballooning adds more deformation locally. All of this deformation of the surrounding rock happens while it is being quickly heated to great temperatures. The result is a unique series of combined deformation-metamorphic features. Sylvester has studied such features in granitic plu-tons in eastern California and Norway, establishing himself as one of the foremost experts in the field.
As a Californian, Sylvester has experienced firsthand the effects of one of the most famous strike-slip faults on Earth, the San Andreas Fault. A whole slew of geologists both from California and elsewhere have conducted extensive research on the San Andreas Fault. Even with all of this research activity by many prominent geologists, Sylvester managed to distinguish himself as one of the premier experts on the deformation associated with it. He was the first to show that significant vertical movements and associated deformation could be synchronous with the dominantly lateral movements of the fault. His identification of “keystone structures” led the way to the identification of a new type of deformation called transpression. His paper on this work is entitled “Tectonic Transpression and Basement Controlled Deformation in the San Andreas Fault Zone, Salton Trough, California.” Because of his contributions to the study, Sylvester agreed to write an elegant summary paper entitled “Strike-Slip Faults” for the centennial volume of Geological Society of America, which is now standard reading in structural geology classes.
Arthur Sylvester sitting in a field of flowers in California
In addition to his research accomplishments, Arthur Sylvester is an inspired teacher. He uses the field as his classroom to convey the processes of deformation as well as regional geology. He runs summer field camps for undergraduate and graduate students as well as field structure courses for a number of petroleum companies, geological societies, geologic surveys, and other universities. He has established a reputation for his prowess in the field as well as his ability to convey complex ideas in an understandable manner.
Arthur Sylvester was born on February 16, 1938, in Altadena, California. He attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, and earned a bachelor of arts degree in liberal arts and geology in 1959. He attended graduate school at University of California at Los Angeles and earned a master of arts degree in 1963 and a Ph.D. in 1966. During this time, he was a Fulbright scholar at Oslo University in Norway in 1961 and 1962. Arthur Sylvester was married in 1961 and has two children. He worked as a research geologist for Shell Development Company in California from 1966 to 1968. He joined the faculty of the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1968 and has remained there throughout his career. From 1972 to 1974, he served as associate director of the overseas program at University of
Bergen, Norway. He served as department chair from 1980 to 1986 and directed the department field camp numerous times. He returned to Oslo University, Norway, as a Fulbright scholar in 1995-1996 and he was a visiting professor at University of Svalbard, Norway, in 2001. Sylvester is fluent in Norwegian, German, and Italian.
Arthur Sylvester has led a very productive career both as a researcher and a teacher-mentor. He is the author of numerous articles in international journals and professional volumes. Many of these articles are often-cited research papers and review articles. He has been well recognized in the profession both for his research and teaching. He was named a Fellow of the Norwegian Research Council in 1996. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the Geological Society of America in 1995. For his teaching and mentoring, he received the Distinguished Teaching Award (1996-97) and the President’s Award for Mentoring (1994) from the University of California and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Pacific Section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in 1994. He has also been named a distinguished lecturer by several organizations.
Sylvester has performed much service to the profession. He served on numerous committees for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists including serving as the director of the Structural Geology School in 1984-1986. He was associate editor of American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin in 1984 to 1988. He served on numerous committees for the Geological Society of America and was the chief editor for the Geological Society of America Bulletin from 1989 to 1994.
