The circular normal density distribution and its applications in Geology

Abstract

The circular normal density distribution and its applications in Geology?. The von Mises distribution, also known as the circular normal density distribution, is suitable for the analysis of angular data (measurements of paleocurrent, planes or structural directions) and others of annual periodicity (especially climatic). The von Mises distribution allows avoiding the use of the linear normal distribution that is not always applicable in these cases, especially when the variation range exceeds 114°. The distribution is applicable to annual and cyclical climate data of any periodicity (eg: diurnal). The circular normal distribution does not depend on a central tendency (most frequent mean) but rather on the relationships between fashion and anti-fashion. For its application, the basic theoretical aspects, the necessary tables and two examples with the respective numerical calculation are outlined.