A Comparison of Carlin-type Gold Deposits：Guizhou Province,Golden Triangle,Southwest China,and Northern Nevada,USA

Several Au deposits in Guizhou Province,southwest China,described as being similar to the highly productive Carlin-type gold deposits in northern Nevada.USA,were examined to identify similarities and differences between the two districts.Samples were collected along transects from lowto high-grade rock,where possible,and fram stockpiles at the Shuiyindong,Zimudang,Taipingdong,Yata and Jinfeng(formerly Lannigou)deposits.Methods used to examine ore and alteration minerals included hand-sample description:reflectance spectroscopy using an ASD Terraspec spectrometer;analyses of hand samples by carbonate staining with Alizaren red and potassium ferricyanide;transmitted and reflected light petrography;chemical analyses,mineral identification,and imaging using a JEOL.JSM-5610 scanning electron microscope:and quantitative chemical analyses using a JEOL JXA-8900 electron probe microanalyzer.Geochemical analyses of hand samples for 52 elements were done by ALS Chemex.Results indicate both similarities and differences between the two districts.Both districts have similar geologic histories.and deposits at both locations appear to have formed as a result of similar tectonic events.though the district in southwest China lacks evidence of eoeval felsic igneous activity;however,the ore-stage minerals and the fluids that produced the minerals and deposits have some significant differences.The Nevada deposits were dominated by fluid-rock reaction in which host rock Fe was sulfidized to form Au-bearing pyrite.Although ore fluids sulfidized host rock Fe in the Cuizhou deposits.the timing of Fe metasomatism is unknown,so whether the deposits formed in response to sulfidation or pyritization is unclear.Fluid-rock reaction between an acidic,aqueous fluid and highly reactive calcareous rocks in Nevada caused extensive decarbonatization of host rocks,jasperoid replacemerit of carbonate minerals,and alteration of silty rock components to illite and kaolinite.In Guizhou,CO2-bearing ore fluids with temperatures and pressures approaching 100℃ and 500 bars greater than temperatures and pressures detemained for ore fluids in the Nevada deposits,deposited Aubearing pyrite.In examined Guizhou deposits these fluids carbonatized host rocks and farmed both replacement and open-space-filling ore.The fluids,which may have been immiscible,were sufficiently overpressured to fracture wall rocks and to create significant open space filled by vein quartz.While deposit architecture,tectonic setting,and host rocks in Guizhou are quite similar to northern Nevada,ore and alteration minerals suggest that ore-forming processes in examined Guizhou deposits have important similarities to processes associated with formation of orogenic Au systems.The Guizhou deposits display characteristics of both Carlin-type and orogenic systems,perhaps indicating formation at conditions somewhat intermediate to conditions for Carlin-type deposits and orogenic systems.

Inflatable rock bolt bond strength versus rock mass rating (RMR)： A comparative analysis of pull-out testing data from underground mines in Nevada

The purpose of this paper is to establish confidence in anticipated minimum bond strength for inflatable rock bolts by comparing the bond strength to variable geotechnical conditions using the rock mass rating （RMR） system. To investigate a correlation between these parameters, the minimum bond strength of pull-out tested inflatable rock bolts was compared to the RMR of the rock in which these bolts were placed. Bond strength vs. RMR plots indicate that expected minimum bond strength is positively corre- lated with RMR; however, the correlation is not strong. Cumulative percent graphs indicate that 97~; of pull-out tests result in a minimum bond strength of 3.3 and 1.7 ton/m in RMR/〉 45 and 〈45, respectively. Although lower bond strengths are more commonly encountered in low RMR ground, high bond strengths are possible as well, yielding higher variability in bond strengths in low RMR ground. Bond strength of friction bolts relies on contact between the rock bolt and drill hole. Experience in Nevada indicates that RMR is known to affect both the quality and consistency of drill holes which likely affects bond strength. Drilling and bolting in low RMR ground is more sensitive to drilling and bolting practices, and strategies for maximizing bond strength in these conditions are discussed.

Spark Plasma Sintering of Mg-based Alloys:Microstructure,Mechanical Properties,Corrosion Behavior,and Tribological Performance

Within the past ten years,spark plasma sintering(SPS)has become an increasingly popular process for Mg manufacturing.In the SPS process,interparticle diffusion of compressed particles is rapidly achieved due to the concept of Joule heating.Compared to traditional and additive manufacturing(AM)techniques,SPS gives unique control of the structural and microstructural features of Mg components.By doing so,their mechanical,tribological,and corrosion properties can be tailored.Although great advancements in this field have been made,these pieces of knowledge are scattered and have not been contextualized into a single work.The motivation of this work is to address this scientific gap and to provide a groundwork for understanding the basics of SPS manufacturing for Mg.To do so,the existing body of SPS Mg literature was first surveyed,with a focus on their structural formation and degradation mechanisms.It was found that successful Mg SPS fabrication highly depended on the processing temperature,particle size,and particle crystallinity.The addition of metal and ceramic composites also affected their microstructural features due to the Zener pinning effect.In degradative environments,their performance depends on their structural features and whether they have secondary phased composites.In industrial applications,SPS'd Mg was found to have great potential in biomedical,hydrogen storage,battery,automotive,and recycling sectors.The prospects to advance the field include using Mg as a doping agent for crystallite size refinement and using bulk metallic Mg-based glass powders for amorphous SPS components.Despite these findings,the interactions of multi-composites on the processing-structure-property relationships of SPS Mg is not well understood.In total,this work will provide a useful direction in the SPS field and serve as a milestone for future Mg-based SPS manufacturing.

Sequestration of helium and xenon via iron-halide compounds in early Earth

The terrestrial abundance anomalies of helium and xenon suggest the presence of deep-Earth reservoirs of these elements,which has led to great interest in searching for materials that can host these usually unreactive elements.Here,using an advanced crystal structure search approach in conjunction with first-principles calculations,we show that several Xe/He-bearing iron halides are thermodynamically stable in a broad region of P–T phase space below 60 GPa.Our results present a compelling case for sequestration of He and Xe in the early Earth and may suggest their much wider distribution in the present Earth than previously believed.These findings offer insights into key material-based and physical mechanisms for elucidating major geological phenomena.

The Effectiveness of Driver Education and Information Programs in the State of Nevada

According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, pedestrian and driver crashes are increasing at an alarming rate due to technological advancements and human errors. There is a need to improve existing driver education programs to mitigate the chances of crashes. The objectives of this research were 1) to examine the quality of Nevada’s driver education by evaluating the effectiveness of its programs, and 2) to provide recommendations to improve driving education in Nevada based on the results from this study. Two different surveys were conducted in Clark County, Southern Nevada. The first survey focused on assessing the strengths and limitations of the current Driver Education Programs in Nevada by capturing the opinions and attitudes of those who went through the process as teenagers. The second survey focused on driver safety through the involvement of pedestrians on the road. These surveys and the corresponding statistical analysis as well as the exiting literature have provided insights to improve driving education. The corresponding recommendations were organized into seven major categories: 1) lack of rigor of online driver education, 2) interactive learning and technology, 3) follow-up exams, 4) practice/training at home, 5) collecting information about crashes, 6) pedestrians, and 7) additional emphasis. Finally, due to the dangers of driving distractions (texting and calling on the cell phone) and impairments (driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs), more emphasis on these topics—as well as more public announcements through billboards, television commercials, and magazines— can help to constantly remind drivers about having good driving habits.

Cost and Benefit Evaluation of Graffiti Countermeasures on the Nevada Highways

Nevada is one of the major states that are currently suffering from graffiti problem. It was estimated that graffiti costs Southern Nevada around $30 million per year. The major highway structures that were suffering from graffiti were bridges, sound walls, retaining walls and traffic signs. Removing graffiti from these infrastructures was a big challenge to the maintenance division of Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT). Thus, the department was looking for cost effective proactive countermeasures to prevent graffiti on highway infrastructure. This study first identified a spectrum of proactive countermeasures, and then evaluated them by conducting a cost-benefit analysis. Pedestrian fencing and chain link fence were found to be cost effective countermeasures for preventing graffiti on bridges and sound walls. However, for relative long sound walls, the chain link becomes less cost effective. Rat guard was found to be cost effective for road signs;however, it was more useful for traffic signs that are located in the area where the taggers cannot find the way to bypass the rat guard. Coating and landscaping were found to be cost effective for small structures. The security camera countermeasure was not cost effective at the locations where the reduction in graffiti was small. The software for spectrometers was relatively high cost and might hinder the cost effectiveness of this countermeasure. To reduce the cost of the software, developing the software internally could be adopted. And finally, the electronic database was recommended since it was not difficult to develop and maintain.

Determination of the Size of a Proposed Bike-Sharing Program in Las Vegas, Nevada

Bike-share systems have been installed in cities worldwide as a way to attract travelers to use transit rather than the automobile. This has been proved to be an effective way of mitigating congestion on the road. The objective of this study is to develop a method to determine the size of the bike-share program in terms of the number of bicycles, the number and location of the stations, the number of docks at each station. To achieve the objectives of this study, a literature review was conducted on university bike-sharing systems in the U.S. and abroad. Various cases of bike-share programs were analyzed, in which each case consisted of a different number and location of bike-share stations. The demand corresponding to these stations was used as the input to a simulation model developed in this study to determine the number of docks in stations and bicycles in the system on and around campus at UNLV. These sizing parameters of the bike-share system then were used in a cost and benefit analysis to determine which cases could achieve maximum benefit, given a limitation of the initial costs. It was found that provision of one peripheral station and three internal stations at strategic locations provide relatively higher benefit cost ratio at lower initial cost.

A comprehensive review on the processing-property relationships of laser strengthened magnesium

Among the existing series of softer metals,magnesium(Mg)has attracted much attention due to its impressive strength-to-weight ratio.However,due to its ease of deformability,Mg tends to suffer from rapid degradation in a wide variety of abrasive and electrochemical environments.One method of improving its surface properties is through surface modification techniques.Among the existing techniques,laser shock peening(LSP)has been one of the most widely utilized processes due to its surface-hardening-like effects.Despite this understanding,a comprehensive review has yet to exist that encapsulates the strengthening mechanism of LSP for Mg and its influence in degradation environments.This review aims to encapsulate the existing research around the LSP field for Mg.Specifically,an understanding of the surface-strengthening effects in relation to its mechanical,tribological,corrosion,and tribo-corrosion characteristics is elucidated.Additionally,the feasibility of LSP for Mg materials in critical industries is also discussed.Through this work,a novel understanding of LSP for Mg can be understood,which can provide a future direction for research in this field.

Exploring the Latest Applications of OpenAI and ChatGPT: An In-Depth Survey

OpenAI and ChatGPT, as state-of-the-art languagemodels driven by cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology,have gained widespread adoption across diverse industries. In the realm of computer vision, these models havebeen employed for intricate tasks including object recognition, image generation, and image processing, leveragingtheir advanced capabilities to fuel transformative breakthroughs. Within the gaming industry, they have foundutility in crafting virtual characters and generating plots and dialogues, thereby enabling immersive and interactiveplayer experiences. Furthermore, these models have been harnessed in the realm of medical diagnosis, providinginvaluable insights and support to healthcare professionals in the realmof disease detection. The principal objectiveof this paper is to offer a comprehensive overview of OpenAI, OpenAI Gym, ChatGPT, DALL E, stable diffusion,the pre-trained clip model, and other pertinent models in various domains, encompassing CLIP Text-to-Image,education, medical imaging, computer vision, social influence, natural language processing, software development,coding assistance, and Chatbot, among others. Particular emphasis will be placed on comparative analysis andexamination of popular text-to-image and text-to-video models under diverse stimuli, shedding light on thecurrent research landscape, emerging trends, and existing challenges within the domains of OpenAI and ChatGPT.Through a rigorous literature review, this paper aims to deliver a professional and insightful overview of theadvancements, potentials, and limitations of these pioneering language models.

An Investigation of Frequency-Domain Pruning Algorithms for Accelerating Human Activity Recognition Tasks Based on Sensor Data

The rapidly advancing Convolutional Neural Networks(CNNs)have brought about a paradigm shift in various computer vision tasks,while also garnering increasing interest and application in sensor-based Human Activity Recognition(HAR)efforts.However,the significant computational demands and memory requirements hinder the practical deployment of deep networks in resource-constrained systems.This paper introduces a novel network pruning method based on the energy spectral density of data in the frequency domain,which reduces the model’s depth and accelerates activity inference.Unlike traditional pruning methods that focus on the spatial domain and the importance of filters,this method converts sensor data,such as HAR data,to the frequency domain for analysis.It emphasizes the low-frequency components by calculating their energy spectral density values.Subsequently,filters that meet the predefined thresholds are retained,and redundant filters are removed,leading to a significant reduction in model size without compromising performance or incurring additional computational costs.Notably,the proposed algorithm’s effectiveness is empirically validated on a standard five-layer CNNs backbone architecture.The computational feasibility and data sensitivity of the proposed scheme are thoroughly examined.Impressively,the classification accuracy on three benchmark HAR datasets UCI-HAR,WISDM,and PAMAP2 reaches 96.20%,98.40%,and 92.38%,respectively.Concurrently,our strategy achieves a reduction in Floating Point Operations(FLOPs)by 90.73%,93.70%,and 90.74%,respectively,along with a corresponding decrease in memory consumption by 90.53%,93.43%,and 90.05%.

Comprehensive Survey of the Landscape of Digital Twin Technologies and Their Diverse Applications

The concept of the digital twin,also known colloquially as the DT,is a fundamental principle within Industry 4.0 framework.In recent years,the concept of digital siblings has generated considerable academic and practical interest.However,academia and industry have used a variety of interpretations,and the scientific literature lacks a unified and consistent definition of this term.The purpose of this study is to systematically examine the definitional landscape of the digital twin concept as outlined in scholarly literature,beginning with its origins in the aerospace domain and extending to its contemporary interpretations in the manufacturing industry.Notably,this investigationwill focus on the research conducted on Industry 4.0 and smartmanufacturing,elucidating the diverse applications of digital twins in fields including aerospace,intelligentmanufacturing,intelligent transportation,and intelligent cities,among others.

A Reverse Path Planning Approach for Enhanced Performance of Multi-Degree-of-Freedom Industrial Manipulators

In the domain of autonomous industrial manipulators,precise positioning and appropriate posture selection in path planning are pivotal for tasks involving obstacle avoidance,such as handling,heat sealing,and stacking.While Multi-Degree-of-Freedom(MDOF)manipulators offer kinematic redundancy,aiding in the derivation of optimal inverse kinematic solutions to meet position and posture requisites,their path planning entails intricate multiobjective optimization,encompassing path,posture,and joint motion optimization.Achieving satisfactory results in practical scenarios remains challenging.In response,this study introduces a novel Reverse Path Planning(RPP)methodology tailored for industrial manipulators.The approach commences by conceptualizing the manipulator’s end-effector as an agent within a reinforcement learning(RL)framework,wherein the state space,action set,and reward function are precisely defined to expedite the search for an initial collision-free path.To enhance convergence speed,the Q-learning algorithm in RL is augmented with Dyna-Q.Additionally,we formulate the cylindrical bounding box of the manipulator based on its Denavit-Hartenberg(DH)parameters and propose a swift collision detection technique.Furthermore,the motion performance of the end-effector is refined through a bidirectional search,and joint weighting coefficients are introduced to mitigate motion in high-power joints.The efficacy of the proposed RPP methodology is rigorously examined through extensive simulations conducted on a six-degree-of-freedom(6-DOF)manipulator encountering two distinct obstacle configurations and target positions.Experimental results substantiate that the RPP method adeptly orchestrates the computation of the shortest collision-free path while adhering to specific posture constraints at the target point.Moreover,itminimizes both posture angle deviations and joint motion,showcasing its prowess in enhancing the operational performance of MDOF industrial manipulators.

On the Energy Budget of Starquake-induced Repeating Fast Radio Bursts

With a growing sample of fast radio bursts(FRBs),we investigate the energy budget of different power sources within the framework of magnetar starquake triggering mechanism.During a starquake,the energy can be released in any form through strain,magnetic,rotational,and gravitational energies.The strain energy can be converted from three other kinds of energy during starquakes.The following findings are revealed:(1)The crust can store free magnetic energy of~10^(46)erg by existing toroidal fields,sustaining 10^(6)bursts with frequent starquakes occurring due to crustal instability.(2)The strain energy develops as a rigid object spins down,which can be released during a global starquake accompanied by a glitch.However,it takes a long time to accumulate enough strain energy via spindown.(3)The rotational energy of a magnetar with P■0.1 s can match the energy and luminosity budget of FRBs.(4)The budget of the total gravitational energy is high,but the mechanism and efficiency of converting this energy to radiation deserve further exploration.

Spin Evolution of the Magnetar SGR J1935+2154

Fast radio bursts(FRBs)are short pulses observed in radio frequencies usually originating from cosmological distances.The discovery of FRB 200428 and its X-ray counterpart from the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154suggests that at least some FRBs can be generated by magnetars.However,the majority of X-ray bursts from magnetars are not associated with radio emission.The fact that only in rare cases can an FRB be generated raises the question regarding the special triggering mechanism of FRBs.Here we report long time spin evolution of SGR J1935+2154 until the end of 2022.According to v and v,the spin evolution of SGR J1935+2154 could be divided into two stages.The first stage evolves relatively steady evolution until 2020 April 27.After the burst activity in2020,the spin of SGR J1935+2154 shows strong variations,especially for v.After the burst activity in 2022October,a new spin-down glitch with△v/v=(-7.2±0.6)×10^(-6)is detected around MJD 59876,which is the second event in SGR J1935+2154.At the end,spin frequency and pulse profile do not show variations around the time of FRB 200428 and radio bursts 221014 and 221021,which supply strong clues to constrain the trigger mechanism of FRBs or radio bursts.

Effect of Dietary Components on the Shear Bond Strength of Orthodontics Brackets after Thermal Aging

Introduction: The stability of orthodontic brackets throughout orthodontic treatment plays a critical role in the treatment’s effectiveness. The present in vitro study was designed to assess the impact of various dietary components on the performance of orthodontic brackets. Methods: Metal orthodontic brackets were bonded to 66 extracted anterior teeth divided into groups based on the solution type: Milk, Gatorade, Cold Coffee, and a control group using water. Each group consisted of 20 teeth except for the control group, which included six teeth. The bracketed teeth were submerged in their respective solutions for 15 minutes three times daily at different intervals to mimic an in vivo environment and were stored in artificial saliva at room temperature (23?C). The specimens underwent artificial aging through 10,000 cycles of thermocycling (representing one clinical year) between 5?C and 55?C. Shade measurements were taken using a VITA Easy Shade device, capturing the classic shade and L*, a*, and b* values. Delta E values were calculated immediately post-bonding and after 7 days, 1 month, 1, and 2 clinical years. The shear bond strength of each bracket was measured using an ultra-tester machine. Results: After two clinical years, significant differences in ΔE color values were observed across all groups, with the most substantial change noted in teeth immersed in cold coffee. Brackets submerged in milk demonstrated lower shear bond strength than other solutions, whereas the control group exhibited the highest shear bond strength (P = 0.01). Conclusion: The study indicates that dietary components significantly influence tooth color stability and the shear bond strength of orthodontic brackets, underscoring the importance of considering these factors in orthodontic treatment planning.

Corrosion Test of the Steel Plate in a WJ-8 Fastener for High Speed Rail

It was found that the steel plate in the composite plate in the WJ-8 fastener used in high speed rail is rusty. The objective of this study is to test the zinc coating of the steel plate. A literature review was conducted to identify the zinc coating techniques, and the companies that can provide different coating service was identified. A salt fog chamber was built that was in compliance with the ANSI B117 code, and the steel plates that were coated by the identified companies were tested using the salt fog chamber. The results indicated that the coating technique that had the best performance in preventing corrosion was the Greenkote plates with passivation. The galvanized option had the roughest coating layer, and it was the most reactive in the salt water solution. This makes it non-ideal for the dynamic rail environment because the increased friction of the plate could damage the supports, especially during extreme temperatures that would cause the rail to expand or contract. Greenkote with Phosphate and ArmorGalv also provided increased corrosion prevention with a smooth, strong finish, but it had more rust on the surface area than the Greenkote with ELU passivation. The ArmorGalv sample had more rust on the surface area than the Greenkote samples. This may not be a weakness in the ArmorGalv process;rather, it likely was the result of this particular sample not having the added protection of a colored coating.

A Survey of Techniques for Brain Anomaly Detection and Segmentation Using Machine Learning

In this research report, various Machine Learning (ML) models are discussed for the purpose of detecting brain anomalies like tumors. In the first step, we review previous work that uses Deep Learning (DL) to classify and detect brain tumors. Next, we present a detailed analysis of the ML methods in tabular form to address the brain tumor morphology, accessible datasets, segmentation, extraction, and classification using DL, and ML models. Finally, we summarize all relevant material for tumor detection, including the merits, limitations and future directions. In this study, it is found that employing DL-based and hybrid-based metaheuristic approaches proves to be more effective in accurately segmenting brain tumors, compared to the conventional methods. However, the brain tumor segmentation using ML models suffers from drawbacks due to limited labelled data, variability in tumor appearance, computational memory requirements, transparency in models, and difficulty in integration into clinical workflows. By pursuing techniques such as Data Augmentation, Pre-training, Active-learning, Multimodal fusion, Hardware acceleration, and Clinical integration, researchers and developers can overcome the bottlenecks and enhance the accuracy, efficiency, and clinical utility of ML-based brain tumor segmentation models.

New U-Pb age constraints on the upper Banxi Group and synchrony of the Sturtian glaciation in South China

The Nanhua basin in South China hosts well-preserved middle-late Neoproterozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks that are critical for studying the basin evolution, the breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia, the nature and dynamics of the "snowball" Earth and diversification of metazoans. Establishing a stratigraphic framework is crucial for better understanding the interactions between tectonic, paleoclimatic and biotic events recorded in the Nanhua basin, but existing stratigraphic correlations remain debated, particularly for pre-Ediacaran strata. Here we report new Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry(LA-ICPMS) U-Pb zircon ages from the middle and topmost Wuqiangxi Formation(the upper stratigraphic unit of the Banxi Group) in Siduping, Hunan Province, South China. Two samples show similar age distribution, with two major peaks at ca. 820 Ma and 780 Ma and one minor peak at ca. 910 Ma, suggesting that the Wuqiangxi sandstone was mainly sourced from Neoproterozoic rocks. Two major age peaks correspond to two phases of magmatic events associated with the rifting of the Nanhua basin, and the minor peak at ca. 910 Ma may correspond to the Shuangxiwu volcanic arc magmatism, which represents pre-collision/amalgamation subduction on the southeastern margin of the Yangtze Block. The youngest zircon group from the topmost Wuqiangxi Formation has a weighted mean age of 714.6±5.2 Ma, which is likely close to the depositional age of the uppermost Banxi Group. This age, along with the ages reported from other sections, constrains that the Banxi Group was deposited between ca. 820 Ma and ca. 715 Ma. The age of 714.6±5.2 Ma from the top of the Wuqiangxi Formation is indistinguishable with the SIMS U-Pb age of 715.9± 2.8 Ma from the upper Gongdong Formation in the Sibao village section of northern Guangxi, South China. It is also, within uncertainties, overlapped with two TIMS U-Pb ages from pre-Sturtian strata in Oman and Canada. These ages indicate that the Jiangkou(Sturtian) glaciation in South China started at ca. 715 Ma instead of ca. 780 Ma and support a globally synchronous initiation of the Sturtian glaciation at ca. 715 Ma.

Influence of earthquake ground motion incoherency on multi-support structures

A linear response history analysis method is used to determine the influence of three factors:geometric incoherency,wave-passage,and local site characteristics on the response of lnulti-support structures subjected to differential ground motions.A one-span frame and a reduced model of a 24-span bridge,located in Las Vegas,Nevada are studied,in which the influence of each of the three factors and their combinations are analyzed.It is revealed that the incoherency of earthquake ground motion can have a dramatic influence on structural response by modifying the dynamics response to uniform excitation and inducing pseudo-static response,which does not exist in structures subjected to uniform excitation.The total response when all three sources of ground motion incoherency are included is generally larger than that of uniform excitation.

A state-of-the-art review of automated extraction of rock mass discontinuity characteristics using three-dimensional surface models

In the last two decades,significant research has been conducted in the field of automated extraction of rock mass discontinuity characteristics from three-dimensional(3D)models.This provides several methodologies for acquiring discontinuity measurements from 3D models,such as point clouds generated using laser scanning or photogrammetry.However,even with numerous automated and semiautomated methods presented in the literature,there is not one single method that can automatically characterize discontinuities accurately in a minimum of time.In this paper,we critically review all the existing methods proposed in the literature for the extraction of discontinuity characteristics such as joint sets and orientations,persistence,joint spacing,roughness and block size using point clouds,digital elevation maps,or meshes.As a result of this review,we identify the strengths and drawbacks of each method used for extracting those characteristics.We found that the approaches based on voxels and region growing are superior in extracting joint planes from 3D point clouds.Normal tensor voting with trace growth algorithm is a robust method for measuring joint trace length from 3D meshes.Spacing is estimated by calculating the perpendicular distance between joint planes.Several independent roughness indices are presented to quantify roughness from 3D surface models,but there is a need to incorporate these indices into automated methodologies.There is a lack of efficient algorithms for direct computation of block size from 3D rock mass surface models.