Book Chapters

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Sahel experienced recurrent drought and famine. Farmers and their development partners reacted to this crisis by developing climate-smart agricultural practices and changes in land use, including water-harvesting techniques to restore degraded land to productivity. In several densely populated parts of the Sahel, farmers began to protect and manage woody species that re

The total alkali-silica (TAS) diagram is a scatterplot of the chemical concentrations of silica oxide (SiO2) versus total alkali-sodium oxide (Na2O) plus potassium oxide (K2O) – in volcanic rocks.

No abstract available.

This entry defines and discusses the random forest machine learning algorithm. The algorithm is used to predict class or quantities for target variables using values of a set of predictor variables. It uses decision trees that are generated from bootstrap sampling of the training data set to create a "forest". The entry discusses the algorithm steps, the interpretative tools of the resulting mode

Research presented in the preceding chapters emphasizes recent advancements in the research, management, and aquaculture of Walleye, Sauger, and Yellow Perch in North America. These percid fishes, along with the European Perch and Pikeperch, are economically and ecologically important fishes in their native geographic range. Advances in techniques to evaluate current habitat and predict future hab

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are adaptable systems that can solve problems that are difficult to describe with a mathematical relationship. They seek relationships between different types of datasets with their abilities to learn either with supervision or without. ANNs recognize patterns between input and output space and generalize solutions, in a way simulating the human brain’s learning e

No abstract available.

This appendix provides an overview of the history and current standards for Mars geographic nomenclature. The article describes the International Astronomical Union's approval process for planetary nomenclature, and discusses the role of USGS Astrogeology in managing the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature website and background database and

No abstract available.

In statistics, a realization is an observed value of a random variable (Gubner 2006). In mathematical geology, the most important realizations are those in the form of maps of spatially correlated regionalized variables.Spatial description of random variables within complex domains and making certain decisions about those require complete knowledge of the attribute of interest at each point in spa

Detrital zircon U-Pb and (U-Th)/He ages from latest Cretaceous–Eocene strata of the Denver Basin provide novel insights into evolving sediment sourcing, recycling, and dispersal patterns during deposition in an intracontinental foreland basin. In total, 2464 U-Pb and 78 (U-Th)/He analyses of detrital zircons from 21 sandstone samples are presented from outcrop and drill core in the proximal and di

The idea for this book, including its organization and contents, has its origin in the latest environmental and climate policy requirements in the United States, as well as science advances. In 2007, the U.S. Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), from which Section 712 required U.S. Federal agencies to provide a better understanding of carbon and greenhouse gas fluxes ac