THE PERIMETER-AREA FRACTAL MODEL AND ITS APPLICATION TO GEOLOGY

Perimeters and areas of similarly shaped fractal geometries in two-dim ensional space are related to one another by power-law relationships, The exponents obtained from these power laws are associated with, but do nor necessarily provide, unbiased estimates of the fractal dimensio ns of the perimeters and areas. The exponent (D-AL) obtained from peri meter-area analysis can be used only as a reliable estimate of the dim ension of the perimeter (D-L) if the dimension of the measured area is D-A = 2. If D-A < 2, then the exponent D-AL = 2D(L)/D-A > D-L. Simila r relations hold true for area and volumes of three-dimensional fracta l geometries. The newly derived results are used for characterizing Au associated alteration zones in porphyry systems in the Mitchell-Sulph urets mineral district, northwestern British Columbia.