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Exploring the Fractal Mountains

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Automated Pattern Analysis in Petroleum Exploration

Abstract

The form of the earth’s surface, reflected by the variation in elevation over space, is very often used as one of the best examples of a naturally fractal phenomenon. The simulated landscapes that are included in Mandelbrot’s now classic texts (Mandelbrot, 1977, 1982), and in the work of many others conducting fractal simulation, are very realistic (e.g., Peitgen and Saupe, 1988). Are the models, however, correct? Can we explore the synthetic mountains of the fractal models, just as we can explore the real mountains on earth, and look for natural structure, form, and process? In this chapter we examine the applicability of fractal methods to natural topography from a geoscience, rather than a mathematical, viewpoint. We consider the question “is the land surface fractal?”

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Authors
  1. Brian Klinkenberg
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  2. Keith C. Clarke
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Amoco Production Company, 501 West Lake Park Boulevard, Houston, TX, 77253, USA

    Ibrahim Palaz (Geophysicist) (Geophysicist)

  2. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, 94511, USA

    Sailes K. Sengupta (Formerly Professor) (Formerly Professor)

  3. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD, 57701, USA

    Sailes K. Sengupta (Formerly Professor) (Formerly Professor)

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© 1992 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Klinkenberg, B., Clarke, K.C. (1992). Exploring the Fractal Mountains. In: Palaz, I., Sengupta, S.K. (eds) Automated Pattern Analysis in Petroleum Exploration. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4388-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4388-5_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8751-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-4388-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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