I study the tectonic and petrologic evolution of late Tertiary volcanic rocks in the Lake Tahoe region of the northern Sierra Nevada. My goal together with Professor William Wise is to understand the structural and tectonic setting of the volcanism (why do volcanoes erupt where they do?), and how the Basin and Range structures are extending into and modifying the northern Sierra Nevada. Together with Jordan Hastings and Lorre Moyer, I am in the process of digitizing the analog copies of six 7.5' quadrangle maps northwest of Lake Tahoe using ArcMap 9.1. Click here to see a preliminary compilation of six 7.5' quadrangles.

Together with Gary Raines, Jordan Hastings, and Chris Henry, I am compiling a digital geologic map of the Sagehen Creek and Independence Lake hydrologic basins about 10 km north of Truckee, California. This project is an extension of the mapping mentioned above and comprises about 55 km2 in the Independence Lake and Hobart Mills 7.5' quadrangles.

I maintain low level monitoring of erosion and retreat of the UCSB beach cliffs. I also monitor aseismic creep of the San Andreas fault at San Juan Bautista and of a fault in the vicinity of Oildale, California.

I am compiling digital geologic maps of the San Andreas fault in the Mecca Hills, and of the geologic structure of the Catena Costiera in Calabria, southern Italy, between Paola and Amantea.

Click here to see a power point about Vrådal K-feldspars

Andersen, T., Andresen, A. and Sylvester, A.G. 2002: Timing of late- to postorogenic Sveconorwegian granitic magmatism in the Telemark and Rogaland-Vest Agder sectors, S. Norway. Norges geologiske undersøkelse Bulletin 440, 5-18.

Andersen, T., Sylvester, A.G. and Andresen, A. 2002: Age and petrogenesis of the Tinn granite, Telemark, south Norway, and its geochemical relation to metarhyolite of the Rjukan Group. Norges geologiske undersøkelse Bulletin 440, 19-26.

Sylvester, A. G., R. B. Smith, Wu Lung Chang, C. S. Hitchcock, and J. O. D. Byrd, 2004. First-order leveling reveals anomalous, interseismic, contractile, transient strain across Teton normal fault, 1988-2001, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, pp. 104-110, in Harlow, H. J. and M. Harlow, editors, 25th Annual Report 2001, University of Wyoming/National Park Service Research Center, Laramie, Wyoming.

Andersen, T., W.L. Griffin, and A.G. Sylvester, 2007. Sveconorwegian crustal underplating in southwestern Fennoscandia: LAM-ICPMS, U-Pb, and Lu-Hf isotope evidence from granites and gneisses in Telemark, southern Norway. Lithos 93, 273-287.

Andersen, T., S. Graham, and A.G. Sylvester, 2007. Timing and tectonic significance of Sveconorwegian A-type granitic magmatism in Telemark, southern Norway. New results from laser-ablation ICPMS U-Pb dating of zircon. Norges geologiske undersøkelse Bulletin 447, 17-31.

Andersen, T., S. Graham, and A.G. Sylvester, in press. Elemental geochemistry, Lu-Hf isotope systematics and petrogenesis of late Mesoproterozoic A-type granites in southwestern Fennoscandia.

Burt, C., S. Satoorian, and A.G. Sylvester, 2007. Flow dynamics and deposit distribution of the Donner Glaciation jokulhlaup, Truckee, California. 2007 GSA Abstracts with Programs.

Sylvester, A.G., W. S. Wise, J. Hastings, and L. Moyer, 2007. New digital geologic map of the northern Lake Tahoe – Donner Pass Region, Sierra Nevada, California. 2007 GSA Abstracts with Programs 39 (5).

Sylvester, A. G., G. L. Raines, J. T. Hastings, and C. T Henry, 2008. New geologic map of the Independence Lake and Sagehen Creek hydrologic basins, northeastern Sierra Nevada, California. 2008 GSA Abstracts with Programs.

Sylvester, A.G., and L. G. Collins, 2008. K- and Si-metasomatism created K-feldspar megacrystic granite in the outer shell of the Vrådal pluton, Telemark, southern Norway. 33rd International Geological Congress, Oslo Norway.

Hastings, J.T., G.L. Raines, A. G. Sylvester, and C.D. Henry, 2008. Expert system for interpretation of geologic maps. 33rd International Geological Congress, Oslo Norway.