Machine Learning Developments and Applications in Solid‐Earth Geosciences: Fad or Future?

Abstract

AbstractAfter decades of low but continuing activity, applications of machine learning (ML) in solid Earth geoscience have exploded in popularity. This special collection provides a snapshot of those applications, which range from data processing to inversion and interpretation, for which ML appears particularly well suited. Inevitably, there are variations in the degree to which these methods have been developed. We hope that the progress seen in some areas will inspire efforts in others. Challenges remain, including the formidable task of how geoscience can keep pace with developments in ML while ensuring the scientific rigor that our field depends on, but with improvements in sensor technology and accelerating rates of data accumulation, the methods of ML seem poised to play an important role for the foreseeable future.