Special Issue of Mathematical Geosciences for the 33^(rd) IGC

The papers published in this issue are selected from manuscripts submitted by invited authors and most of these papers will be presented at the 33^rd International Geological Congress （33^rd IGC） in Oslo, August 2008. It receives 25 manuscripts and 16 were accepted after going through the journal normal peer reviewing process. The topics of the papers cover various aspects of ＂metallogenic complex processes and mineral resource quantitative assessment＂, one of the strategic research areas of the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes Resources （GPMR） sponsored by the Science and Technology and the and Mineral Ministry of Ministry of Education of China. Researches in the area are also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation and Ministry of Land and Resources of China as well as by mining companies. Thanks are due to these funding programs and organizations for supporting the research activities of GPMR. Sincere thanks are due to those who have reviewed the manuscripts and provided critical comments and even English editing of some of the papers. We are very appreciated for the assistance of the editorial office especially Professor Wang, the editor-in-chief, Ms. Yuan and many others who have worked hard to make this issue be printed before the event of 33^rd IGC. Special thanks are given to Professor Xie Shuyun, Xu Deyi and Tali Neta and many other members in the Geomatics Research Lab of York University for handling the manuscripts during the reviewing processes.

Quantitative simulation and prediction of extreme geological events

The systematic study of extreme geological events(such as plate collision and subduction, extreme cold and extreme hot events, biological extinction and revival, earthquakes, volcanoes, mineralization, and oil accumulation) that occurred during the evolution of the earth is essential not only for understanding the “abrupt changes in the evolution of the earth”, but also for an in-depth understanding of the co-evolution of material-life-environment of the livable earth. However, due to the temporal and spatial anomalies and complexity of extreme geological events, classical mathematical models cannot be effectively applied to quantitively describe such events. After comparative studies of many types of geological events, the author found that such extreme geological events often depict “singular” characteristics(abnormal accumulation or depletion of matter or massive release or absorption of energy in a small space or time interval). On this basis, the author proposes a unified definition of extreme geological events, a new concept of “fractal density” and a “local singularity analysis” method for quantitative description and modeling of extreme geological events. Applications of these methods to several types of extreme geological events have demonstrated that the singularity theory and methods developed in the current research can be used as general approaches for the characterization, simulation, and prediction of geological events.