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This paper aims to give an oversight of what is being done by researchers in GIS and remote sensing (field) to explore minerals. The main objective of this review is to explore how GIS and remote sensing have been beneficial in identifying mineral deposits for easier and cost-effective mining.

The approach of this research used Web of Science to generate a database of published articles on the application of GIS and remote sensing techniques for mineral exploration. The literature was further digested, noting the main findings, adopted method, illustration and research scales.

When applied alone, each technique seems effective, but it is important to know that combining different methods is more effective in identifying ore deposits.

This paper also examined and provided possible solutions to both current and future perspective issues relating to the application of GIS and remote sensing to mineral exploration. The authors believe that the conclusions and recommendations drawn from case studies and literature review will be of great importance to geoscientists and policymakers.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a three dimensional (3D) geological model, based on geographic information system (GIS), of the Barwon Downs Graben aquifer system in Victoria, Australia, and to visualize the complex geometry as a decision support tool for sustainable water management.

A 3D visualization of the aquifer is completed, based on subsurface geological modelling. The existing borehole database, hydrogeological data, geological information and surface topography are used to model the subsurface aquifer. ArcGIS 9.2 is employed for two‐dimensional (2D) GIS analysis and for 3D visualization and modelling geological objects computer aided design (GOCAD) 2.5.2 is used. The developed methodology of ArcGIS and GOCAD is implemented for creating the 3D geological model of the aquifer system.

The 3D geomodel of the Barwon Downs Graben provides a new perspective of the complex subsurface aquifer geometry and its relation with surface hydrogeology in a more interactive manner. Considering the geometry, estimated volume of the unconfined Eastern View aquifer is as 0.83 × 10¹⁰ m³ and for the confined aquifer is about 1.02 × 10¹⁰ m³. The total volume of overlying strata of this aquifer is about 3.0⁹ × 10¹⁰ m³. The water resources of the study area are affected by the pumping from this aquifer. This is also significantly influenced by the geometry of the Graben.

The 3D model utilises comprehensive and generally available datasets in the public domain. Although the used 3D geomodelling tools are mainly developed for applications in the petroleum industry, the current paper shows its ability to be adapted to hydrogeological investigations.

The purpose of this paper is to extract the characterized mineralization information from large numbers of data obtained from geologic exploration based on rough set; analyze the inherent relation between mineral information genes and metallogenic probability, and offer the scientific basis for target prediction.

Mineral information includes all kinds of relative metallogenic information. In order to extract comprehensive metallogenic prediction information, it is necessary to filter initial observation information to emphasize the factors that are most advantageous to metallogenic prognosis. Rough set can delete irrespective or unimportant attributes on the premises of no information missing and no classification ability changing, without supplementary information or prior knowledge, which has important theoretic and practical value for metallogenic prognosis.

The association and importance of geological information referring to prospecting are found out through attribute reduction based on rough set.

The analysis of geological and mineral information based on rough set is a novel approach for high‐dimensional complex non‐deterministic polynomial problems which are predominant in geological research. The research successfully extracts characterized mineralization information to offer the scientific basis for target prediction.

The purpose of this paper is to utilise the interactive view capability of the geographical information system (GIS) for the geological interpretation in Klang Valley, Malaysia.

Topographical map scale of 1:10 000 was used to generate digital elevation model (DEM). The geological map was draped over the DEM to create a 3D perspective view. The geological interpretation was undertaken using the 3D capability of the GIS software.

From the study, five lineaments which could possibly be the newly identified faults and one lithological boundary have been delineated.

Although these findings need to be rechecked in the field, they show the capability of the DEM application in structural geology interpretation.

The results obtained from this study demonstrate the capability of utilising a geological map draped over DEM for structural geological interpretation. Thus the technique may increase the interpretation accuracy.

The major outcome of this research is the possible use of DEM in the application of geological study.

The purpose of the paper is to present a new method of controlling through susceptible slopes in order to reduce the risk of landslides.

Geotechnical and geological characteristics were collected and different FEM analyses were carried out in a case study of the Alasht valley in Northern Iran in order to determine susceptibility to landslides and consider appropriate countermeasures. Gravel drain piles have a real feel of reducing the pore water pressure in times of seismic loading, so they are used as a remediation method. The results clearly show their effects and an increase in safety as a result.

Since the water table situation has a significant effect on stability, the present study focused on an example of using a seepage controlling system and its effect on the safety factor for different slopes in the area of Alasht, Northern Iran. Several FEM analyses were carried out on a landslide susceptible case. The results from FEM analysis of different slopes in the study area show a high susceptibility to landslides for six sites. Installing a gravel drain pile surrounded by a non‐woven geotextile layer leads to an increase in the safety factor against landslides. As a result, after installing gravel drain piles in the upper parts of slopes in order to control run out and ground water rising up in times of heavy rainfall, the safety factor against landslides in both static and seismic loading improved significantly.

The literature regarding controlling seepage in order to reduce the risk of landslides is limited. This paper collects and analyses geotechnical and geological data from the Alasht valley as an example to show the high risk of susceptibility to landslides.

This paper aims to describe two Web-based technologies of geographic information systems (GIS) to be used in monitoring and analysis of environmental processes, proposed by the authors. The technologies analyze the temporal aspect of the process together with the spatial aspect, which defers them from most other works on environmental processes, as these are usually limited either to spatial statistics or to temporal statistics. The approach is instrumental in dynamically finding the relationships between the processes and predicting critical incidents.

Often, the study of natural processes is limited to the analysis of their spatial properties presented by individual time series. The principal idea of this approach consists in supplementing this traditional analysis with the analysis of time fields. In this way, the authors are able to analyze temporal and spatial properties of environmental processes together.

The paper presents two technologies which provide the analysis of spatial and temporal data obtained in natural environment monitoring. The discussed spatio-temporal data mining methods are shown to enable the research into environmental processes, and the solution of practical issues of critical situation forecasts.

The paper discussed Web-based GIS technologies for the analysis of the temporal aspect of the environmental process together with the spatial aspect. Application examples demonstrate the ability of this approach to find the relationships in dynamics of the processes and to predict critical incidents.

It is shown in natural gas proportion mixing experiments that a mixed-source natural gas is the physical combination of end member gas. Both the carbon and hydrogen isotopes in the mixed-source natural gas can be expressed by the weighted average of corresponding components content and isotopes of end member gas. Under certain geological setting, the selection of end member gas is the key to mixed-source ratio calculation. Then, it's better to estimate the mixed-source ratio with δ¹³C₁ and component data according to the weighted average calculation formula. The analysis on natural gas geochemistry characteristics show that the natural gas extracted from Jingbian Gas Field in the Ordos Basin is mainly an upper Paleozoic coal-derived gas. In the analysis of geological conditions for reservoir forming and characteristics of natural gas, natural gas from Longtan 1 Well and Tao 6 Well were selected as the end member gases of lower Paleozoic oil-type gas and upper Paleozoic coal-type gas respectively to calculate the mixed-source ratio of natural gas in Jingbian Gas Field. The ratio of upper Paleozoic coal-derived gas mostly accounts for over 70% and its average ratio reaches 81%. Therefore, the exploration of natural gas of Ordos Basin should be focused on the upper palaeozoic coal source rock, and attention should be paid to the matching of coal source rock in the exploration of weathered crust gas deposit.

The coal bed methane resources distribution of Handan - Fengfeng Mining area has the features of "richness in the midland and north while poorness in the south, and richness in the east while poorness in the west. Through the analysis of the geological factors causing the above phenomena, we get that: the coal metamorphism and hydrogeological condition are the major controlling factors, the former controls the north and south difference of coal bed methane resources distribution from the two aspects covering gas-generated quantity and adsorption capacity, while the latter controls the east and west difference of coal bed methane resources distribution; syncline and good cap rock conditions are necessary conditions for coal bed methane enrichment, but not the reason for causing the difference of coal bed methane resources distribution.

The correlations between mechanical behaviour, tensile strength, and rock parameters of metasedimentary rock samples in Karak, Pahang’s New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) were statistically evaluated from the rock mechanic laboratory works at the selected sections around 2,000 m of the tunnel (named as NATM-1). According to a statistical analysis, lithotypes, geological structures, and region geology have a significant impact on the mechanical behaviour of the metasedimentary rock. In the Brazilian test, the fracture behaviour of the disc specimens was highly related to the reliability and precision of the experimental data by validations of methods. In this work, the impact of different loading methods and rock lithotypes on the failure mechanism of Brazilian discs was examined utilising five different metasedimentary rock types and three different loading methods. During the loading operation, the strain and displacement fields of the specimens were recorded and evaluated using a computerised strain gauge system. The rock types, according to experimental data, have a significant impact on the peak load and deformation properties of Brazilian discs. With the method below, tensile strength point of a disc specimen is clearly regulated by the material stiffness and tensile–compression ratio. Seismic occurrences have had a substantial impact on changing the rock and exerting forces that may affect its mechanical characteristics as well as its vulnerability to weathering effects or discontinuities. As a result, the goal of this study is to look into the connection between rock mechanics and metasedimentary rock stress analysis in NATM-1, Karak, Pahang.

This paper aims to consider the potential implications of the layering of regulation in relation to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) at the borders between the nations of the UK.

This paper uses a qualitative research method grounded in particular in legal geography to examine the existing approaches to regulating hydraulic fracturing and identify the places and their features that are constructed as a result of their intersection at the borders of the nations comprising the UK.

The current regulatory framework concerning hydraulic fracturing risks restricts the places in which the practice can occur in such a manner as to potentially cause greater environmental harm should the process be used. The regulations governing the process are not aligned in relation to the surface and subsurface aspects of the process to enable their management, once operational, as a singularly constructed place of extraction. Strong regulation at the surface can have the effect of influencing placement of the site only in relation to the place at which the resource sought reaches the surface, whilst having little to no impact on the environmental harms, which will result at the subsurface or relative to other potential surface site positions, and potentially even increasing them.

This paper is limited by uncertainty as to the future use of hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and gas within the UK. The issues raised within it would also be applicable to other extractive industries where a surface site might be placed within a radius of the subsurface point of extraction, rather than having to be located at a fixed point relative to that in the subsurface. This paper therefore raises concerns that might be explored more generally in relation to the regulation of the place of resource extraction, particularly at legal borders between jurisdictions, and the impact of regulation, which does not account for the misalignment of regulation of spaces above and below the surface that form a single place at which extraction occurs.

This paper considers the potential impacts of misaligned positions held by nations in the UK in relation to environmentally harmful practices undertaken by extractive industries, which are highlighted by an analysis of the extant regulatory framework for hydraulic fracturing.

Whilst the potential for cross internal border extraction of gas within the UK via hydraulic fracturing and the regulatory consequences of this has been highlighted in academic literature, this paper examines the implications of regulation for the least environmentally harmful placement of the process.