FRACTAL DIMENSION OF FAULTS IN THE AXIAL ZONE OF THE EAST PACIFIC RIDGE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE OCCURRENCE OF DEEP-WATER SULFIDE DEPOSITS

Abstract

The objective of our research was to test how the occurrence of sulfide ores is related to the fractal dimension of faults in the axial zones of midocean ridges. The investigations were based on data collected by teams of our corporation in the axial zones of the East Pacific Rise near 20° S. The results are interpreted in terms of the hierarchical block model of the geophysical medium, developed by Academician M.A. Sadovskiy at the Institute of Earth Physics. Patterns of percolation systems and fractal systems can be assigned quantitative measures; these quantities may be evaluated from the available preliminary data, but the fractal, self-similar structure of deep faults such as ocean rifts enables us to extrapolate these results to more detailed structural levels of the faults. Since ore-generating systems are regular components of more general systems, e.g., systems of deep faults, ore predictions of various kinds can be made on the basis of data and deep faults. Fractal analysis of the structure of a deep fault on any scale provides quantitative results that are of importance for such predictions, e.g., for prediction of the size distribution of ore bodies, the distribution of promising areas along a fault zone, and metallogenic taxonomy.