The development and utilization of microcomputers is widespread and rapid in all scientific disciplines, geology being no exception. Microcomputers are becoming ubiquitous and indispensable in research and teaching as well as in the commercial sector. The applications that are available to the geologic community today are increasingly dynamic and sophisticated, although to date software has been the limiting factor. This volume provides an excellent source of software and ideas on applications. Papers cover a wide range of subjects both in geology and computer science. The applications range from reconstructing fossil shells to reconstructing landscape terrains, covering topics such as expert systems, simulations, database construction and data analysis and display.

This volume 'Use ofMicrocomputers in Geology' is the sixth in the series Computer Applications in the Earth Sciences published by Plenum Press in New York. The series was started in 1969 to publish proceedings of important meetings on geomathematics and computer applications. The first two volumes recorded proceedings ofthe Colloquia (1969,1970) sponsored by the Kansas Geological Survey at The University ofKansas in Lawrence. The third volume was proceedings ofthe 8th International Sedimentological Congress (1971) held in Heidelberg, West Germany; the fourth was preceedings ofthe 8th Geochautauqua (1979) at Syracuse Universityin Syracuse, New York; and the fifth was selected papers from the 27th International Geological Congress (1989) held in Washington, D.C. All meetings were cosponsored by the International Association for Mathematical Geology. These special publications are important in the development of quantitative geology. Papers by a wide range of authors on a wide range of topics gives the reader a flavor for recent advances in the subject -in this volume, those advances in the use ofmicrocomputers. The 24 authors ofthe 15 papers come from nine countries -Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, UK, and USA. My coeditor, Hans Kürzl, has given pertinent information on the included papers in the Introduction.

Quantitative resource assessment methods play an increasing role in exploration for petroleum, water and minerals. This volume presents an international review on the state-of-the-art of the computerized methodology in resource exploration. The papers taken from those presented at the symposium are classified to either techniques, i.e., trend analysis; classification techniques; geostatistics; image analysis; expert systems/artificial intelligence; inventories; tomography and others, or to resources, i.e., petroleum, water, metals and non-metals.