Geomathematics: theoretical foundations, applications and future developments (Q2452716)

The author has written over 250 publications in the field of geomathematics during the past 50 years. He plays a major role in the International Association of Mathematical Geology and has influenced the development of geomathematics worldwide. Forty years ago his book [Geomathematics: Mathematical Background and Geoscience Applications, Elsevier (1974; Zbl 0291.62151)], was published. The title of the present book is similar but a bit misleading: It should be reduced to ``Geomathematics, Applications''. The author himself writes in the preface: ``Daniel Merriam had urged me repeatedly to write another book with case history studies only. I finally got around to following up on his suggestion. The underlying mathematics can be found in original publications, on the internet, or in other geomathematical books of which there now exists many,\dots'' The present book contains a large number of case history studies performed by the author during his career at the Ministry of Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada. It illustrates the application of mathematical methods in researching basic geological problems in stratigraphy, tectonics, igneous petrology and geochronology, in order to solve practical problems such as description and characterization of ore deposits and prediction and evaluation of mineral resources. The book describes the latest developments and achievements of mathematical geoscience over the last decades. The headlines of the 12 chapters illustrate the used variety of mathematical tools: 1. Complexity of the Geological Framework and Use of Mathematics 2. Probability and Statistics 3. Maximum Likelihood, Lognormality and Compound Distributions 4. Correlation, Method of Least Squares, Linear Regression and the General Linear Model 5. Prediction of Occurrence of Discrete Events 6. Autocorrelation and Geostatistics 7. 2-D and 3-D Trend Analysis 8. Statistical Analysis of Directional Features 9. Quantitative Stratigraphy, Splining and Geologic Time Scales 10. Fractals 11. Multifractals and Local Singularity Analysis 12. Selected Topics for Further Research