FRACTAL FINGERPRINTING OF JOINT AND SHATTER-CONE SURFACES

The branching patterns of radiating ridges on surfaces of tensile join ts and shatter cones were simulated and quantified, and their scaling properties were examined in three dimensions by means of a technique n ew to geology, the slit-island method. Results show that the textures are fractal over a wide range of scales. Accordingly, an algorithm sim ulates growth of tensile fracture-surface features by combining a set of rules with an element of randomness. The simulated surfaces are fra ctal and strikingly similar to natural fracture surfaces. These and ot her complex branching patterns observed in geology are likely due to a n interplay of deterministic and random processes.