Geostatistics: A Colloquium

Although statistics have been used by geologists for many years, only recently has the subject received the attention needed and deserved. Geologists and other earth scientists have a use for summary statistics of large data bases, knowledge of frequency distributions, understanding of sampling designs and problems, and ap- plication of stochastic models, but in general they are unaware of the many aspects of help available through the statistician. It seemed warranted at this time to get the two disciplines together and to find a common meeting ground for further collaboration. Thus the subject of the 8th Colloquium was proposed as GEOSTATISTICS. Statisticians with interests in ap- plications in the earth sciences were asked to partici- pate with earth scientists interested in applying statistics to problems. This volume records the pro- ceedings of the meeting. The Kansas Geological Survey, the International Association for Mathematical Geology and the University Extension were hosts to 120 participants on campus at The University of Kansas during 7-9 June 1970. The Colloquium was the 8th in a series on "Computer Applica- ions in the Earth Sciences." Previous subjects were classification, trend analysis, time-series analysis, simulation, sampling, computer applications, and optical- data processing. The stated purpose of the meeting was to explore some assumptions, limitations, and applica- tions for statistical geology and geostatistics.