Fractal dimension of red soil particle and relationship with environmental factors in Xingguo County, China

Base on the data of soil particle composition and fractal model, soil particle fractal dimension(D) had been analyzed in forestland of hilly region. Results show that 84 topsoil particle dimensions are between 2.568 and 2.828, fractal dimension of purple soil is 2.772, red soil 2.700, brown red soil 2.693, yellow red soil 2.670, yellow soil 2.713. Fractal dimension increases along with the soil texture fine. From the spatial distribution, fractal dimension is bigger in the west and southeast of study area, but smaller in the northwest and north; D between 2.7 and 2.8 is predominant, accounting for 1171 km² or 47.0% of total area of study region, while D above 2.8 is the least represented, covering 48 km² or 1.9%. The fractal dimension are in highly significant positive correlation with aspect and elevation, while no significant correlation with slope, profile curvature, plane curvature.