Title Time scales and gaps, Haar fluctuations and multifractal geochronologies
Authors Lovejoy, Shaun ; Davies, Rhisiart ; Spiridonov, Andrej ; Hebert, Raphael ; Lambert, Fabrice
DOI 10.1038/s43247-026-03226-3
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Is Part of Communications earth and environment.. London : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. 2026, vol. 7, iss. 1, art. no. 208, p. [1-10].. eISSN 2662-4435
Abstract [eng] Outcrops and cores are primary sources of information about the Earth’s past. Quantitative analyses rely on geochronologies that take into account highly variable sedimentation and erosion rates as well as gaps from missing strata. Using 23 geochronologies from the Holocene, Quaternary, Phanerozoic and Precambrian, we apply Haar fluctuation analysis to statistically characterize the number of measurements per unit time - the measurement densities. The analysis determines the densities’ (multifractal) scaling regimes and exponents; collectively, the analyses span over nine orders of magnitude in time scale. The measurement density is a new paleoindicator that we show is typically correlated with the primary paleoindicator, biasing and complicating its statistical interpretation. We also analyze the distribution of gaps linking the latter’s (probability) scaling with series incompleteness and the length Sadler effect. The density characteristics are needed to unbias spectra and other statistical characterizations.
Published London : Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Type Journal article
Language English
Publication date 2026
CC license CC license description