Dr. Zoltan Sylvester

Research Interests
Sedimentology and stratigraphy of clastic sedimentary systems
Stratigraphic forward modeling and its applications in reservoir modeling
Seismic stratigraphy and interpretation of three-dimensional seismic data
Sediment gravity flows and their deposits
Reproducible scientific computing in geology
Education
Ph.D., Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 2001
M.Sc., Geology, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania, 1995
B.Sc., Geology, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania, 1994
Professional History
Research Scientist, Quantitative Clastics Laboratory, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 2017-present
Senior Clastic Stratigrapher, Clastic Stratigraphy Team, Chevron Energy Technology Company, 2014-2016
Research Scientist, Clastics Research Team, Shell Technology Center Houston, TX, 2005-2014
Geologist, Volume Interpretation Team, Shell Research, Houston, TX, 2001-2005
Lecturer, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania, 1995-1996
Selected Publications
Jobe, Z., Z. Sylvester, M. B. Pittaluga, A. Frascati, C. Pirmez, D. Minisini, N. Howes, and A. Cantelli (2017), Facies Architecture of Submarine Channel Deposits on the Western Niger Delta Slope: Implications for Grain-size and Density Stratification in Turbidity Currents, J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surf. 122, doi:10.1002/2016JF003903
Sylvester, Z., Covault, J. (2016) Development of cutoff-related knickpoints during early evolution of submarine channels, Geology 44: 835-838, doi:10.1130/G38397.1
Jobe, Z. R., Sylvester, Z., Howes, N., Pirmez, C., Parker, A., Cantelli, A., Smith, R., Wolinsky, M., O’Byrne, C., Slowey, N., Prather, B. (2016) High Resolution, Millennial-Scale Patterns of Bed Compensation on a Sand-Rich Intraslope Submarine Fan, Western Niger Delta Slope, Geological Society of America Bulletin 128: 23-37, doi:10.1130/B31440.1
Prather, B., O’Byrne, C., Pirmez, C., Sylvester, Z. (2016) Sediment partitioning, continental slopes and base-of-slope systems, Basin Research, doi:10.1111/bre.12190
Jobe, Z. R., Sylvester, Z., Parker, A. O., Howes, N., Slowey, N., Pirmez, C. (2015), Rapid Adjustment of Submarine Channel Architecture to Changes in Sediment Supply, Journal of Sedimentary Research 85: 729-753
Sylvester, Z., Cantelli, A., and Pirmez, C. (2015), Stratigraphic evolution of intraslope mini- basins: Insights from surface-based model, AAPG Bulletin 99: 1099-1129
Sylvester, Z., Deptuck, M. E., Prather, B. E., Pirmez, C., and O’Byrne, C. (2012), Seismic Stratigraphy of a shelf-edge delta and linked submarine channels in the North-Eastern Gulf of Mexico, SEPM Special Publication 99: 31–59
Deptuck, M. E., Sylvester, Z., and O’Byrne, C. (2012), Pleistocene seascape evolution above a “simple” stepped slope - Western Niger Delta, SEPM Special Publication 99: 199–222
Abd El-Gawad, S., Cantelli, A., Pirmez, C., Minisini, D., Sylvester, Z., and Imran, J. (2012), Three-dimensional numerical simulation of turbidity currents in a submarine channel on the sea oor of the Niger Delta slope, Journal of Geophysical Research, 117(C5): C05026
Sylvester, Z., Pirmez, C., Cantelli, A. (2011), A model of submarine channel-levee evolution based on channel trajectories: Implications for stratigraphic architecture, Marine and Petroleum Geology 28: 716-727
Sylvester, Z. (2007), Turbidite bed thickness distributions: methods and pitfalls of analysis and modelling, Sedimentology 54(4): 847–870
Deptuck, M. E., Sylvester, Z., Pirmez, C., and O Byrne, C. (2007), Migration-aggradation history and 3-D seismic geomorphology of submarine channels in the Pleistocene Benin-major Canyon, western Niger Delta slope, Marine and Petroleum Geology 24: 406–433
Sylvester, Z. and Lowe, D. R. (2004), Textural trends in turbidites and slurry beds from the Oligocene flysch of the East Carpathians, Romania, Sedimentology 51: 945–972