Earth-Science Reviews, 29 (1990) 4 7 - 5 5 47

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., A m s t e r d a m

Self-organized mineral textures of igneous rocks:

the fractal approach

Anthony D. Fowler
Ottawa Carleton Geoscience Centre, and Deparment of Geology, The Unioersity of Ottawa, 770 King Edward St., Ottawa,
Ont. KIN 6N5 (Canada)

(Accepted for publication November 17, 1989)

ABSTRACT

Fowler, A.D., 1990. Self-organized mineral textures of igneous rocks: the fractal approach. Earth-Sci. Rev., 29: 47-55.

Many of the irregular patterns and textures that have been the subject of much recent scientific research are formed far
from equilibrium, and are fractal in nature. Fractal structures are scale-invariant or self-similar. They appear the same, in a
statistical sense, over large changes in scale. Silicate mineral crystals grown under conditions of disequilibrium frequently have
a morphology composed of a hierarchy of similar branching parts. They are fractal objects and are self-organized on a
macroscopic scale. The slopes of density-density correlation function plots are a measure of the fractal dimension. The plots
show that some disequilibrium crystals exhibit a change from fractal to constant-density morphology. The growth of
disequilibrium textures can be described in terms of the diffusion limited aggregation (DLA) algorithm. This is a stochastic
model that mimics the Brownian motion of diffusing particles in the silicate liquid. It is an appropriate model as the
disequilibrium crystals are known to have grown well below the liquidus under conditions of reduced atomic mobility. The
simulations greatly resemble, and are quantitatively similar to naturally grown crystals. The branch growth is feedback-rich
because the diffusing particles are not likely to cause growth anywhere, but near the branch tips.

INTRODUCTION certain granites. The cooling rate and density

Minerals formed under conditions of ex-
treme disequilibrium are typically char-
acterized by a radiating or branching non-
crystallographic morphology. Unlike well
faceted crystals they are not compact as their
mass per unit volume occupied decreases out-
ward from their centres, that is, they have a
non-constant density morphology. Because
they are formed at temperatures well below
thermodynamic equilibrium (the liquidus
temperature) they are termed disequilibrium
crystals. They are truly self-organized, as the
over-all morphology is a reflection of the
growth processes involved, and not the result
of growth on an external template, i.e. the
unit cell. There are many igneous rocks that
are characterized by the disequilibrium tex-
tures they contain. Among these are komati-
ites, spherulitic pillow basalts, harrisites, and
of nuclei are likely the two most important
parameters that control the outcome of the
texture. Most work accomplished thus far is
either descriptive, experimental, theoretical,
or a combination of these approaches, Here, a
statistical approach, combining fractal geom-
etry, and computer simulations of the diffu-
sion limited aggregation (DLA) type is shown.
OCCURRENCE OF DISEQUILIBRIUM CRYSTALS
Although disequilibrium textures are com-
paratively rare, in some environments they
are abundant. Following is a brief description
of some of the more important types. Komati-
ites are ultramafic volcanic rocks that are
virtually non-existent in recent volcanic ter-
rains and are almost entirely restricted to the
Archean ( > 2.7 Ga). They are often char-
acterized by a spectacular layering (Arndt

0012-8252/90/$03.50 © 1990 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

48
Fig. 1. Spinifex textured olivine in komatiite, Munro Township, Ontario. Note that the crystals branch and some are
over 0.5 m in length. Photo courtesy of M. Jones.
and Nisbet, 1982). Typically the flows are on
the order of a few meters thick and consist of
a chill zone base overlain by a layer com-
posed of cumulate olivine and pyroxene
crystals, that itself is overlain by a layer of
skeletal and acicular disequilibrium crystals
oriented parallel to the direction of flow.
Above this is the so-called spinifex zone which
contains abundant branching and plate olivine
crystals. The branching crystals can have axes
on the order of meters in length, and are
often oriented such that the branching opens
away from the quench flow top. Fig. 1 shows
an example of the branching olivine. The
disequilibrium crystals are interpreted to have
grown well below the liquidus from a liquid
that was convectively cooled and most likely
A.D. FOWLER
impoverished in nuclei (Donaldson, 1982a;
Huppert et al., 1984).
Spherulitic (variolitic) pillow basalts are
also far more abundant in the Archean than
in recent times. They are characterized by a
variation in plagioclase crystal morphologies
from the glassy zone of maximum supercool-
ing into the more slowly cooled pillow core.
Typically the margin contains centimeter-
sized plagioclase spherulites (Fig. 2), com-
posed of very fine, micron-scale, closely
packed plagioclase fibres that project out from
a central area. Further into the pillow the
spherulites are larger and the individual fibres
are thicker and more separated. They become
progressively coarser, and with depth give
way to branching, dendritic, acicular, skeletal
S E L F - O R G A N I Z E D M I N E R A L T E X T U R E S O F I G N E O U S ROCKS 49

the development of disequilibrium crystals is

not solely due to rapid cooling associated
with the quenching of volcanic rocks is the
fact that they are also present in plutonic
environments. The Rhum intrusion of Scot-
land contains branching olivine crystals (har-
risitic texture) very similar to those of the
spinifex zones of komatiites. The olivine
crystals can be up to two meters in length.
The harrisites occur between layers of con-
temporaneously formed cumulate olivine.
Donaldson (1982b) has shown that most of
the harrisite formed at the magma crystal-
mush boundary, but the mechanism of forma-
tion is not well understood. In view of the
fact that in plutonic environments it is dif-
ficult to achieve the rapid loss of heat that is
required to produce these textures in volcanic
Fig. 2. Plagioclase spherulites from pillow metabasalt, rocks or laboratory studies, Donaldson (1979,
McDiarmid Lake, Ontario. The spherulites are ap- 1982b) has suggested that loss of volatiles
proximately one centimetre in diameter and from just
below the altered glassy pillow rim (Fowler et al., 1987).
elevated the liquidus temperature, or that
saturation of the magma with water allowed
for supersaturation of olivine, or that double
diffusive convection effectively removed heat
and other shapes. Although the disequi- from the interface. Similar textures are ob-
librium textures are in large part due to rapid served in other plutonic environments: e.g.
cooling (Fowler et al., 1987) the fact that they pyroxene in gabbros (Fig. 4A; Poldervaart
are not found in all pillow basalts indicates and Taubeneck, 1959; Fowler et al., 1989);
that there are other causative factors. and quartz in granites (e.g. Swanson and
Further evidence that the mechanism for Fenn, 1986).
PLAGIOCLASE

\
1

GLAS~S~
Fig. 3. Schematic representation of the change in plagioclase morphology with increasing amount of undercooling
(arrow). After Lofgren (1974). Note that at high undercoolings the plagioclase has the characteristic open morphology
of fractal objects.
50
REVIEW OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
In the past few decades there have been
numerous experimental crystallization studies
of various mineral systems. These studies have
demonstrated that there are a wide range of
possible morphologies, and have given con-
siderable insight to the conditions of forma-
tion. Due to space limitations the following is
by no means complete, however, Lofgren's
(1980) review serves as an excellent compre-
hensive guide to the experimental results.
Fig. 3 shows the general progression of
textures produced as a function of undercool-
ing in the plagioclase system as determined
by Lofgren (1974). In general the trend is to
have compact well-faceted crystals grown at
temperatures slightly below the liquidus, that
with an increasing degree of supercooling be-
come rough in outline, to skeletal, to den-
dritic, through to non-constant-density forms.
The latter include spherulites that become
progressively "finer" and close-spaced with
the degree of supercooling. The textures are
the same as those observed in the plagioclase
of some pillow basalts. Donaldson (1976) has
documented a qualitatively similar variation
from constant density to non-constant den-
sity crystals with supercooling in the olivine
system. There has been considerable experi-
mental work accomplished in which parame-
ters other than the cooling regime have been
investigated. These are the volatile content
(Fenn, 1977; Swanson and Fenn, 1986),
oxidation state (e.g. Usselman and Lofgren,
1976), stirring (Kouchi et al., 1986), and
nucleus density (e.g. Lofgren, 1983; Tsuchiya-
ma, 1983). Increasing the superheat of an
experimental charge destroys sites for nuclea-
tion, hence charges that have been super-
heated generally show mineral morphologies
characteristic of a higher undercooling, in
comparison to charges that have not been
superheated.
Existing theory is that a layer of rejected
solute builds up around growing crystals and
that protuberances projecting into more
saturated melt preferentially grow (Keith and
A.D. FOWLER
Padden, 1964; Lofgren, 1980). Experimental
work has documented the conditions of for-
mation but the exact mechanisms and the
parameters of growth remain obscure. In order
to better understand the growth mechanism
and the effects of varying the particle and
nucleus density, a statistical approach involv-
ing fractal geometry and computer simula-
tions has recently been used (Fowler et al.,
1989).
FRACTAL GEOMETRY
The term fractal was defined by Mandel-
brot (1983, p. 15) "as a set for which the
Hausdorff Besicovitch dimension strictly ex-
ceeds the topological dimension." His ob-
servation is that the standard concept of di-
mension (that a point has dimension 0, a line
has dimension 1, and so on) is an over-sim-
plification and that topology and Euclidean
geometry are not particularly useful for the
characterization of natural objects.
Traditionaly, in science we have been un-
able to approach a quantification of shape
and hence have developed a scientific vocab-
ulary rich in descriptors (e.g. branching,
ramifying, corraline, bifurcating, amoeboid
etc.). In fact, it is Mandelbrot's contention
that fractal forms (probably including the
textures discussed here) are more common
than one would expect, and that they have
been largely ignored in part because of the
difficulty in quantifying them, and relating
them to known processes. There are many
fractal dimensions, for instance the ramifying
boundaries of embayed crystals can be char-
acterized by fractal geometry using a tech-
nique similar to that which Mandelbrot used
to measure the fractal dimension of coast
lines. Here we focus on crystals that are fractal
objects, these are grown under conditions of
extreme disequilibrium and have random,
non-crystallographic branching forms. Fractal
objects are characterized by voids that in-
crease in size with the scale of observation
(e.g. Figs. 4A, 5A). They are scale-invariant
or self-similar, meaning that the object looks
SELF-ORGANIZED MINERAL TEXTURES OF IGNEOUS ROCKS 51

°i ' ,
,LOG C,(R) -~

-
" ,"~
-4_.--'_-" <_L-"....~...:~..
- - - ~ '-'----~-,-_
~ - - ~- , ~ 1"" -C- - - ~
~z_s-,-----"~.~.,,

---.h

:~r~t~ I
Fig. 4. A. Section of a branching crystal in gabbro, Astray Lake, Labrador. Photo courtesy of D. Watanabe. B.
Digitization of the above. C. The density-density correlation function plot. The slope is - 0 . 3 and the fractal
dimension is 1.7.

the same in a statistical sense over a wide
range of scales.
Fig. 4C shows a density-density correla-
tion function plot (e.g. Daccord et al., 1986)
constructed from a digitization (Fig. 4B) of
the clinopyroxene image of Fig. 4A. The plot
is constructed in the following manner. A n y
pixel part of the digitized texture is chosen as
an origin, and concentric shells are con-
tructed at distances radius R from it. For
each shell the ratio of pixels that are part of
the texture to the total n u m b e r of pixels in
the shell, is computed. This ratio is termed
the correlation function C ( R ) . Another pixel
is then chosen as an origin and C(R) is
calculated in shells distances R from it. This
is repeated a few h u n d r e d times or more and
then the average C ( R ) ' s for the various radii
are calculated. Finally the average log C(R)
is plotted against log R. In two dimensions
52
(
LOG C(R)
0 I ' l
I 2
LOG R
Fig. 5. A. An example of a pattern grown by diffusion
limited aggregation. B. The density-density correlation
function plot. The slope is -0.327, and the fractal
dimension is 1.637.
the amount of material contained in a com-
pact or constant density item scales as the
square of the radius. In contrast the amount
of material in a fractal object scales with
radius, to a smaller power, the fractal dimen-
sion. Intuitively, one would expect that items
of constant mass distribution would have
slope = 0 on correlation function plots.
Therefore the fractal dimension is given by
( 2 - the slope) on correlation function plots.
Fig. 4c shows that the fractal dimension of
the clinopyroxene crystal in 1.70. The rapid
fall-off in the correlation function for large R
(e.g. Fig. 5B) is characteristic of many of
these plots because at large R some shells
contain only a few pixels from just the longest
branch, hence the numerator becomes very
small.
A.D. FOWLER
Thus fractal analysis allows for a quantita-
tive measure of disequilibrium crystal shapes
unattainable through other means. This is
significant as the simple statement that the
crystal of Fig. 4A is a fractal object of dimen-
sion 1.7 in section, is far more rigorous than
typical descriptors such as harrisite, Willow
Lake texture, unidirectional solidification tex-
ture, etc.
SIMULATIONS
Witten and Sander (1981) introduced DLA,
an algorithm for growth simulation that is a
good analogue of aggregation type processes
where the concentration of diffusing particles
is small. At the start a seed particle or nucleus
is represented by a fixed pixel in the centre of
a circle within the computer screen. A pixel
on the circle, representing a particle, is then
chosen at random and allowed to randomly
walk. It will either eventually collide and stick
to the centre seed pixel causing growth, or
collide with the enclosing circle in which case
a new particle is released at random. The
algorithm is iterated many thousands of times.
Fig. 5A shows the result of a DLA simula-
tion. Note that the object has a symmetry of
dilation that is characterized by progressively
larger void spaces at larger and larger scales.
Fig. 5B shows the correlation function plot,
and that the fractal dimension of the DLA
object is approximately 1.7. Visually one can
see that the D L A of Fig. 5A is at least quali-
tatively similar to the pattern of the clino-
pyroxene of Fig. 4A. The DLA is a reasona-
ble analogue for the growth of disequilibrium
crystals because the crystals are grown under
conditions where diffusion is thought to be
inhibited by the fact that the viscosity of the
melt increases as it becomes polymerized be-
low the liquidus, and because diffusion rates
diminish with decreasing temperature.
Fowler et al. (1989) have shown that the
pure D L A is not entirely appropriate for the
simulation of disequilibrium crystals, as
growth in a silicate melt very obviously in-
volves a finite number of particles. Accord-
S E L F - O R G A N I Z E D M I N E R A L T E X T U R E S O F I G N E O U S ROCKS
Fig. 6. A. Simulation pattern grown using six nuclei, a finite number of particles, and global noise reduction (see text).
B. Clinopyroxene spherulites in a gabbro, Munro Twp., Ontario. Note the strong resemblance to the simulation of A.
ingly they used the growth algorithm of Wit-
ten and Meakin (1983) to simulate the effect
of variable amounts of nuclei and a finite
a m o u n t of walkers. Typically, in this model, a
few thousand particles are distributed at ran-
d o m as pixels on a computer screen, and one
or more seeds are introduced also at random.
Particles are then selected for movement to
any one (chosen at random) of their nearest
neighbour sites. If the site is unoccupied, the
move is completed. If the nearest neighbour
site chosen is occupied, no move occurs. W h e n
a particle moves adjacent to a nearest
neighbour site that is either a seed, or part of
a growing cluster attached to a seed, it be-
comes part of the cluster and will not be
selected for movement again.
N i t t m a n n and Stanley (1986) have shown
that DLA-type simulations can be modified
by assigning a counter to each growth site
such that it must sustain a fixed a m o u n t of
collisions by a walker before growth occurs.
Fowler et al. (1989) have shown that this
approach can be used to define a growth
anisotropy by varying the counter such that it
is low for the case when a nearest neighbour
site is co-linear with a specified n u m b e r of
53
attached particles. For instance, one could
make a rule, that for nearest neigbour sites
aligned with a m i n i m u m of two pixels that
are part of the structure, it requires two colli-
sions for growth, and ten collisions for non-
aligned particles. This introduces an ani-
sotropy such that once growth has started, the
preferred branch is five times more likely to
grow.
Witten and Meakin (1983) reported that
under certain conditions, patterns grow from
simulations that start with a finite n u m b e r of
walkers and nuclei have a characteristic
change in slope on the correlation function
plot. There is tendency for the slope to de-
crease to zero with increasing R, meaning
that there is a cross-over from fractal to con-
stant density growth. Physically this is be-
cause unlike the pure Witten-Sander D L A
there are particles available to grow onto the
sides of branches, and these cause in-filling.
Fowler et al. (1989) have shown that the
olivine crystals close to the quench margin of
the pillow basalts they studied, exhibit this
cross-over. Fig. 6A shows the results of a
simulation containing a finite n u m b e r of
walkers, six nuclei placed on a grid, and a
54
global noise reduction parameter. Note the
close correspondence of this simulation to the
texture of the gabbro of Fig. 6B.
SELF-ORGANIZATION
Clearly, the disequilibrium crystals under
discussion here are organized in a form that is
very different from that which results in a
well faceted compact crystal typical of equi-
librium growth. The form of an equilibrium
crystal is controlled by the interface kinetics
and the geometry of the unit cell. Given am-
ple time for diffusion the equilibrium crystal
rejects or rearranges the orientation of growth
molecules to fit the template of the unit cell.
Far from equilibrium the free energy dif-
ference between the crystal and the liquid is
so large that interface kinetics are unim-
portant and diffusion becomes the rate limit-
ing process. Fractal crystals are megascopi-
cally self-organized from growth processes
that can best be described as random (i.e.
DLA). The caveats of self-organization are
non-equilibrium and feedback. Experimental
work has documented that the fractal textures
are grown far from equilibrium and the simu-
lations show that feedback is an integral part
of the growth process. Once a branch has
been established, it will keep on being
"selected" for growth merely because the ran-
d o m walkers are incapable of causing in-fill-
ing growth. The probability of a random
walker travelling down the fjord between the
branches to cause in-filling is nil.
Bifurcation diagrams for non-equilibrium
systems are constructed by plotting a state
parameter such as composition against a mea-
sure of distance from equilibrium. Traditional
thermodynamics does not deal with the form
or geometry of a phase or phases within the
system. However, it is possible to think in
these terms using a bifurcation diagram by
plotting the dimension of a fractal mineral
against an experimental parameter, e.g. the
amount of undercooling responsible for the
particular textural growth.
A.D. FOWLER
CONCLUSIONS
Crystals such as those found in komatiites,
spherulitic pillow basalts, and harrisite are
characterized by branching morphologies.
They are self-organized and have grown un-
der conditions far from equilibrium. They can
be rigorously quantified through the use of
fractal geometry. This allows for a more pre-
cise classification, and more meaningful com-
parisons with laboratory grown disequi-
librium crystals. Fractal analysis of the mor-
phologies coupled with computer simulations
using the diffusion limited aggregation al-
gorithm has allowed for a more concrete un-
derstanding of the effects of particle and
nucleus density.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Dr. G. Daccord kindly provided the simu-
lations and density-density correlation func-
tions, for which I am very grateful. Conversa-
tions with him and Professor E.H. Stanley
have helped to focus on the problem of apply-
ing fractal geometry to petrology. Discussions
with several graduate students of the depart-
ment helped to sharpen my thinking. I am
grateful to Edward Hearn for preparation of
the figures. The constructive criticism pro-
vided by the review of G. Lofgren is greatly
appreciated. The work was partially sup-
ported by NSERC.
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