🚀 go-pugleaf

Alok Kumar writes:
>  i am presently doing research in the field of trying to understand 
>  the movement of contaminants below the surface of the earth. the 
>  inherent problem in this field is trying to characterize the
>  heterogeneous nature of the subsurface of the earth. it seems some
>  work has been done in trying to characterize such properties in other 
>  fields.
>  i would appreciate if anyone could send me informations regarding 
>  work done in this field or any related field. the key is trying to 
>  understand the variability in properties at a large scale that 
>  could be self similar in nature.

There has been some fairly concentrated effort to use fractal geometry in
the study of transport dynamics in groundwater.  Much of this work has
been done by Stephen Wheatcraft and colleagues.  A key paper is:

Wheatcraft, SW and SW Tyler. 1988. An explanation of scale-dependent
     dispersivity in heterogeneous aquifers using concepts of fractal
     geometry.  Water Resources Research 24:566-578.

You may also be interested in the work that has been done on the fractal
geometry of cave, particularly those formed in karst landscapes.
For example, see:

Laverty, M. 1987. Fractals in karst.  Earth Surface Processes and
     Landforms 12:475-480.

These papers, and the references therein, should get you started.

Alan