Professor Emeritus Art Sylvester’s 1988 paper “Strike-slip faults” was selected in June 2021 as one of 48 “Must-Read” papers by the Tectonics and Structural Geology Division of the European Geosciences Union. Contributions in the Must-Read series are regarded as the first of their kind, maybe even “seminal,” and are to be read and discussed virtually over the next two years.

The EGU summary read: “With over 4200 reads and 675 citations, the value of Sylvester’s contribution is well framed in the context of a comprehensive review of the state of the art of knowledge on, in this case, strike-slip faults. With touch-base on the San Andreas fault, the author covers a vast ground; nomenclature and basic concepts, mechanical explanations and their physiographic effects, seismicity, and development of strike-slip systems in different tectonic regimes, and finally, a section of open questions and problems.”

The link to the full summary of Sylvester’s paper is here:

https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/ts/2021/06/30/ts-must-read-sylvester-1988-strike-slip-faults/

Art comments:  Egad, I wrote this paper 33 long years ago, and to learn that it is still relevant is quite satisfying and not a little astonishing. A lot of water has passed under the bridge in the intervening years, and I should think it is probably high time for someone to tackle the subject again with an updated review.

Former UCSB Geological Science Professor Rick Sibson and former grad student John Platt also had papers in the Must-Read series to go along with truly “seminal” papers by Peter Molnar, Bill Rubey, King Hubbert, John Dewey and John Bird, etc. It is a real honor for me to be among these and other renowned scientists and authors.