Problems of slope stability, instability, and the associated mass movement processes of slope failure, represent research themes common to both geotechnical engineers and geomorphologists, although their perspectives clearly differ. While the engineering concern is generally site specific and limited by project design-life considerations to time periods of less than 100 years, for the geomorphologist longer term slope stability and slope evolution, involving a mixture of slope processes operating over tens of thousands of years, constitute a major area of enquiry (e.g. Kirkby, 1984).

Slopes as inclined earth surfaces occur everywhere. They are more or less worked by man and thus the condition is changed. Thus, the effects of these changes should also be considered and a certainty about the safety of the slopes should be obtained. Only with
this knowledge should changes be carried out in order to be able to estimate their effect on people and the environment.

The 2014 SME Guide for Reporting Exploration Results, Mineral Resources, and Mineral Reserves (the 2014 SME Guide) has been adopted by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. (SME) and is therefore strongly recommended to be used by members of this organization.

In his foreword to "Soft Computing for Reservoir Characterization and Modeling", Dr. Bertrand Braunschweig posed the question: "What's next?". In this companion volume, the authors have provided an imaginative and comprehensive answer. They have extended the application of soft computing techniques to methodologies used for oil exploration in general and have indicated how these increasingly popular methodologies can be integrated with our more traditional industry techniques. In this collection of articles you will find contributions from largely diverse disciplines, ranging from geostatistics and time lapse seismic to biostratigraphy and core analysis. <...>