Natural selection is the spirit of the genetic algorithm (GA): by keep
ing the good genes in the current generation, thereby producing better
offspring during evolution. The crossover function ensures the herita
ge of good genes from parent to offspring. Meanwhile, the process of m
utation creates a special gene, the character of which does not exist
in the parent generation. A program based on genetic algorithms using
C language is constructed to invert the parameters of an earthquake-ru
ptured fault. The verification and application of this code is shown t
o demonstrate its capabilities. It is determined that this code is abl
e to find the global extreme and can be used to solve more practical p
roblems with constraints gathered from other sources. It is shown that
GA is superior to other inverting schema in many aspects. This easy h
andling and yet powerful algorithm should have many suitable applicati
ons in the field of geosciences. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All ri
ghts reserved.