Over the past few decades, mathematical models have become an increasingly important tool for
Earth scientists to understand and make predictions about how our planet functions and evolves
through time and space. These models often consist of partial differential equations (PDEs) that are
discretized with a numerical method and solved on a computer.Themost commonly used discretization
methods are the finite difference method (FDM), the finite volume method, the finite element
method (FEM), the discrete element method, the boundary element method, and various spectral
methods.
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