Fractals And Chaos In Geology And Geophysics

The fundamental concepts of fractal geometry and chaotic dynamics, along with the related concepts of multifractals, self-similar time series, wavelets, and self-organized criticality, are introduced in this book, for a broad range of readers interested in complex natural phenomena. Now in a greatly expanded, second edition, this book relates fractals and chaos to a variety of geological and geophysical applications. All concepts are introduced at the lowest possible level of mathematics consistent with their understanding, so that the reader requires only a background in basic physics and mathematics.

Now in a greatly expanded second edition, this book relates fractals and chaos to a variety of geological and geophysical applications and introduces the fundamental concepts of fractal geometry and chaotic dynamics. In this new edition, Turcotte expands coverage of self-organized criticality and includes statistics and time series to provide a broad background for the reader. Topics include drainage networks and erosion, floods, earthquakes, mineral and petroleum resources, fragmentation, mantle convection, and magnetic field generation. The author introduces all concepts at the lowest possible level of mathematics consistent with their understanding, so that the reader requires only a background in basic physics and mathematics. He includes problems for the reader to solve. This book will appeal to a broad range of readers interested in complex natural phenomena.

This text examines the emerging field of fractals and its applications in earth sciences. Topics covered include: concepts of fractal and multifractal chaos; the application of fractals in geophysics, geology, climate studies, and earthquake seismology.

Fractal geometry allows the description of natural patterns and the establishment and testing of models of pattern formation. In particular, it is a tool for geoscientists. The aim of this volume is to give an overview of the applications of fractal geometry and the theory of dynamic systems in the geosciences. The state of the art is presented and the reader obtains an impression of the variety of fields for which fractal geometry is a useful tool and of the different methods of fractal geometry which can be applied. In addition to specific information about new applications of fractal geometry in structural geology, physics of the solid earth, and mineralogy, proposals and ideas about how fractal geometry can be applied in the reader's field of studies will be put forward.

Reprint from Pure and Applied Geophysics (PAGEOPH), Volume 131 (1989), No. 1

Fractals and Multifractals in the Geosciences details the application of a wide range of multifractal methods, including many novel ones developed by the author, along with the assessment of uncertainty in sample classification and stability of spatial patterns. This book also provides criteria for selection of the most effective combination of data pre-processing and multifractal modeling to extract desired features or signals in the data. The book specifically aims to introduce, apply, and test novel multifractal models that account directly for changes in relationships between variables, as well as the effects of distance between samples and the source of anomalous metal contents in geoscience samples. Linked to this will be assessment of the effects of different pre-processing of data prior to application of the models and quantification/model uncertainty in geochemical anomaly maps, associated with sample classification and spatial interpolation. Gaussian simulations such as Sequential Gaussian Simulation and Monte Carlo Simulation will be applied to the new multifractal models developed and a suite of existing models, including (simulated) concentration-area, spectrum-area, singularity and other models. Fractals and Multifractals in the Geosciences will be invaluable for mathematical geoscientists, geostatisticians, exploration, applied, urban and environmental geochemists, computational geoscientists, data scientists, and GIS professionals who need to better understand fractal geometry, along with its theory and applications in geochemical anomaly classification to generate maps that are helpful for decision-making for follow-up sampling and explorations. Provides a comprehensive overview of the use of fractal and multifractal modeling methods, with a detailed assessment of uncertainty quantification in samples and classified models Specifically includes novel multifractal models, as well as uncertainty quantification and decision-making methods for use in geosciences and especially geochemistry Includes case studies showing the application of the fractal and multifractal methods detailed in the book

The fractal analysis is becoming a very useful tool to process obtained data from chaotic systems in geosciences. It can be used to resolve many ambiguities in this domain. This book contains eight chapters showing the recent applications of the fractal/mutifractal analysis in geosciences. Two chapters are devoted to applications of the fractal analysis in climatology, two of them to data of cosmic and solar geomagnetic data from observatories. Four chapters of the book contain some applications of the (multi-) fractal analysis in exploration geophysics. I believe that the current book is an important source for researchers and students from universities.