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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


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