A PROBABILISTIC PROCEDURE TO ASSESS THE UNCERTAINTY OF FRACTAL DIMENSIONS FROM MEASUREMENTS

In order to assess the degree of uncertainty of fractal dimensionality, a procedure is given which provides a cumulative probability measure of uncertainty of fractal dimensionality in terms of assessments of range and most likely value. The procedure allows for a variation of the model proposed (i.e., variability of the parameters involved in the fractal relation) and leads to a relevant estimate of the uncertainty. The procedure is simple to apply and useful in providing a statistically valid comparison of results. As an illustration, the procedure was used on the fractal dimensions of faults measured from shear zones of different scale magnitudes. Results suggest that these shear zones are indeed quantitatively similar with a fractal dimension around 1.5. It is also shown that the range of uncertainty of the fractal dimensionality (90% likelihood range) is sensitive to the amount of data used to calculate the fractal dimension of the faults.