The notion of spatial continuity is intuitive. We assume that, because nature shows structure in most geological phenomena, things we find at one location in space should be similar at locations nearby. For example, if we find sand in a beach, we expect to find more sand a few steps away.
Similarly, if we measure a concentration of lead at one location, originated from a pollution event, we expect to find more lead in nearby locations, since it is reasonable to expect those locations have been also affected by the pollution episode. In mineral deposits, rock type units show structure, hence continuity in space.
The concentration of an element within a rock type will tend to change slowly, since its deposition depends on the properties of the rock, such as its permeability. The hydrothermal fluids that permeated the rock and cooled to deposit the metals we seek, will follow permeable paths within the rock, generating a connected deposition.
We will measure this continuity by linking pairs of points that are separated by a distance vector h. From there, we will define different measures of similarity or measures of dissimilarity and integrate this behaviour for all possible distances and directions.
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