Preliminary results of fractal analysis of the poligonal survey from cave : case study of Małołączniak Area (Tatra Mts.)

Abstract

Traverses (polygons) from two caves have been tested: Wielka Śnieżna Cave System (2858 vectors) and Śnieżna Studnia cave (742). The box counting technique was applied to evaluate the fractal analysis of spatial orientation of traverses. The polygonal survey of Wielka Śnieżna Cave, Śnieżna Studnia and both caves merged together have a fractal geometry. It may be concluded that these caves are close to the full recognition of passages forming by a hydrological system and they could have close relation with geological structures. The usual explanation of fractal dimension D higher than 1 indicates that caves with such dimension fill more space than those with ideal dimension of 1.00 (for example a straight line), and the geological constraints limit the dimension to be lower than 2 (Verbovsek 2007). It may suggest that systems can be developped into more complicated passages in future. The fact that both caves merged together also have showed fractal geometry indicates that they are belonging to the same hydrological system. It was noticed that D-value of merged caves is slightly larger than individual cave. It can be explained by “occupying” more space in rock mass.