Statistics and data analysis in geology / Статистика и анализ данных в геологии

Mathematical methods have been employed by a few geologists since the earliest days of the profession. For example, mining geologists and engineers have used samples to calculate tonnages and estimate ore tenor for centuries. As Fisher pointed out (1953, p. 3), Lyell’s subdivision of the Tertiary on the basis of the relative abundance of modern marine organisms is a statistical procedure. Sedimentary petrologists have regarded grain-size and shape measurements as important sources of sedimentological information since the beginning of the last century. The hybrid Earth sciences of geochemistry, geophysics, and geohydrology require a firm background in mathematics, although their procedures are primarily derived from the non-geological parent. Similarly, mineralogists and crystallographers utilize mathematical techniques derived from physical and analytical chemistry. <...>