The fractal shape of sutured quartz grain boundaries: application as a geothermometer
✍ Scribed by J. H. Kruhl; M. Nega
- Publisher
- Springer
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 816 KB
- Volume
- 85
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0016-7835
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Along grain boundaries of quartz from metamorphic and igneous rocks complex interfingering (sutures) may occur. Under the light microscope the lengths of the sutures range from approximately 10-1000 lxm. The sutured grain boundaries are statistically self-similar over one to two orders of magnitude. They represent fractals. Their mathematical counterpart are Koch curves which are developed after two to four iterations. The fractal (Hausdorff-Besicovitch) dimensions D of sutured quartz grain boundaries from different grades of m e t a m o r p h i s m are between ca. 1.05 and 1.30. The D-value decreases with increasing temperature during formation of the sutures. On a statistical basis, D can be used as a measure of this temperature and, therefore, as a deformation-related thermometer.