Fractals and Dynamic Systems in Geoscience

Concepts and methods of fractal geometry penetrate various branches of human knowledge to an increasing degree. This tendency is particularly striking in the geosciences, because many processes occurring in and on the Earth result in time dependences and spatial patterns that have a fractal character. The contributions in this volume arose from the "3rd International Symposium on Fractals and Dynamic Systems in Geosciences", held at Stara Lesna, Slovakia in June, 1997. The volume contains new ideas and applications of fractal geometry in such diverse branches of geoscience as engineering geology, the physics of the lithosphere (including faulting, seismicity, and fluid flow), and climate behavior.

Inhalt
Appolonian Packing and Fractal Shape of Grains Improving Geomechanical Properties in Engineering Geology.- Fractal Characterization of Particle Size Distributions in Chromitites from the Great Dyke, Zimbabwe.- Dynamics and Scaling Characteristics of Shear Crack Propagation.- Fractal Approach of Structuring by Fragmentation.- Micromorphic Continuum and Fractal Fracturing in the Lithosphere.- Spatial Distribution of Aftershocks and the Fractal Structure of Active Fault Systems.- Scale-invariance Properties in Seismicity of Southern Apennine Chain (Italy).- Variation of Permeability with Porosity in Sandstone Diagenesis Interpreted with a Fractal Pore Space Model.- Slow Two-phase Flow in Single Fractures: Fragmentation, Migration, and Fractal Patterns Simulated Using Invasion Percolation Models.- Dynamic Model of the Infiltration Metasomatic Zonation.- Wavelet Analysis of Nonstationary and Chaotic Time Series with an Application to the Climate Change Problem.