Fractal Analysis of the Gray-Scale Intensity Data of Finely Laminated Sediments from Bainbridge Crater Lake, Galápagos

The gray-scale intensity data of finely laminated sediments from Bainbridge Crater Lake, Galápagos, were analyzed in terms of Hurst exponent and fractal dimension. The sediment record preserved in this volcanic maar provides a continuous history of past El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events over the last 6200 years. Accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon data show that sedimentation rate was not constant for whole core. To take into consideration this fact gray-scale intensity data from analyses of X-radiography images of a 4.1 m long core from this basin were divided into Data 1 and Data 2. Data 1 corresponds to the more recent part of stratigraphic sequence, which was deposited since 3000 yr BP; Data 2 is from the earlier part of record between 6200 and 3000 yr BP. A persistent behavior with a Hurst exponent of H = 0.88 and H = 0.8 was found by power spectrum analysis method for Data 1 and Data 2, respectively. The width method of analysis shows that ENSO fluctuation before 3000 yr BP had a persistent behavior on a time-scale up to 26 years, while the more recent El Niño occurrences have a persistent behavior on a time-scale up to 5.6 years.