Fractal features of soils characterized by grain size distribution

The technology of image analysis is applied to measure the equivalent diameter and grain size distribution of six soil samples. The fractal dimension characterized by grain size distribution is obtained accordingly. The analysis shows that the grain size distribution of soils exhibits a statistical fractal feature and the magnitude of fractal dimension reflects the sizes and uniformity of soil particles. Large fractal dimension corresponds to small size grain, high percentage of fine particles and poor uniformity. The uneven distribution of particle sizes will remarkably influence the magnitude of fractal dimension. The fractal dimension will be very large if the sizes of soil particles are concentrated in a narrow range.