Date of Award

2023-05-01

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Geological Sciences

Advisor(s)

Deana D. Pennington

Second Advisor

James D. Kubicki

Abstract

This thesis explores the use of Artificial Intelligence, specifically semantics, ontologies, and reasoner techniques, to improve field geology mapping. The thesis focuses on two use cases: 1) identifying a geologic formation based on observed characteristics; and 2) predicting the geologic formation that might be expected next based upon known stratigraphic sequence. The results show that the ontology was able to correctly identify the geologic formation for the majority of rock descriptions, with higher search results for descriptions that provided more detail. Similarly, the units expected next were correctly given and if incorrect, would provide a flag to the field geologist to further investigate the sequence break. However, subjective descriptions and searches can impact the results, and incorrect property assertions can generate undesirable results and require validation and verification of data. Overall, the study demonstrates the potential for using sematic knowledge bases for field studies to improve geologic field observations and measurements.

Language

en

Provenance

Recieved from ProQuest

File Size

53 p.

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Perry Ivan Quinto Houser

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