Soil Mass, Surface, and Spectral Fractal Dimensions Estimated from Thin Section Photographs
- 1 July 1996
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Soil Science Society of America Journal
- Vol. 60 (4) , 962-969
- https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1996.03615995006000040002x
Abstract
Aspects of fractal geometry have been used to give quantitative measurements of soil structure. Fractal dimensions measured were the mass fractal dimension (Dm), surface fractal dimension (Ds), and the spectral dimension (d). We investigated the fractal component of a computer program, STRUCTURA, which measures the fractal dimension of soil from images of soil thin sections. Six thin sections, each showing different structural characteristics, were analyzed in order to obtain a range of fractal dimensions. The dimensions, in particular Dm and d, were shown to discriminate the different structures. The values of Dm and d ranged from 1.682 to 1.852 and 1.236 to 1.668, respectively. A further objective was to use these results, together with fractal theory, to show the potential fractal geometry has in predicting physical processes such as diffusion within the soil. To assist with the interpretation of fractal dimensions, the dimensions of different soil samples with the same porosity were compared.Keywords
This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: