Premium
Structure and self‐similarity in silty and sandy soils: the fractal approach
Author(s) -
BARTOLI F.,
PHILIPPY R.,
DOIRISSE M.,
NIQUET S.,
DUBUIT M.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 0022-4588
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.1991.tb00399.x
Subject(s) - fractal , fractal dimension , soil water , porosity , soil structure , porosimetry , aggregate (composite) , materials science , geology , geometry , soil science , mineralogy , mathematics , porous medium , geotechnical engineering , mathematical analysis , composite material
SUMMARY Soil structure was studied using the concept of fractals and related to soil texture and aggregate properties such as surface charges and aggregate stability. The mass and porosity fractal dimensions ( D m and D p ) of silty and sandy soils were determined on in situ soils using a variety of soil sections (thin, very‐thin and ultra‐thin), by image analysis on a continuous scale from m to 10 −9 to 10 −1 m. Surface fractal dimensions ( D s ) of these soils were determined on < 2 mm air‐dried samples using mercury porosimetry and the fractal cube generator model. The results suggest that soils are not pore fractals but mass and surface fractals with D m = 1.1 D s when the dimension of the embedding Euclidean space d is 3. The soil structures could possibly be described by fractal diffusion‐limited aggregation with complex interconnected aggregates or by fractal cluster–cluster aggregation models. As a preliminary conclusion, the fractal approach appears to be a potentially useful tool for understanding the underlying mechanisms in the creation or destruction of soil structure.