Re: [Phys-l] Maths meets geology (geophysics?)

[brian whatcott <betwys1@sbcglobal.net>]

 I purchased a beautiful relief map of the 'conterminous United States' 
recently -
 a product of the Geological Survey.
The price was not unreasonable at $10, and it came with a paper:
"Landforms of the Conterminous United States -A Digital Shaded Relief 
Portrayal"
in eight pages. [Map I-2206]

   From a few feet away, it gives the distinct appearance of a plaster 
of paris
relief map. Its minimum feature size is about 1 sq mile, so it gives a 
sweeping view of the
macroscopic drainage of retreating glaciers, and the infolded Eastern 
and Western ranges,
 as well as the Western Coastal upheaval. This provides a basis for 
remarking that
regularity in  valley conformation is evidently something whose scale is 
less than a mile,
 because the topography on this large scale does not reflect that kind 
of  rythm.

Brian W

On 9/2/2010 2:25 PM, chuck britton wrote:
> Fractal Geometry (no physics) was claimed to 'explain' all this 'way
> back when'.
>
> This represents progress, I suppose.
>
>
> At 2:25 PM -0700 9/1/10, Bernard Cleyet wrote:
> > Another try w/ that link!
> >
> > http://www.livescience.com/environment/090722-earth-ridges.html
> >
> >
> > On 2010, Sep 01, , at 12:33, Bernard Cleyet wrote:
> >
> >   >  Formula Found to Explain Earth's Evenly Spaced Valleys | LiveScience
> ____