Point pattern analysis of eruption points for the Mount Gambier volcanic sub-province: a quantitative geographical approach to the understanding of volcano distribution

This paper is an examination of the method of point pattern analysis, its potential and limitations, and a discussion of the patterns of volcano geography for the Mount Gambier volcanic sub-province of southeastern Australia. Two classes of point pattern measure were employed: the centrographic measure of point dispersion and directional bias, and distance-based measures of ordered neighbours. Spatial analysis has shown the distribution and pattern of eruption points to be heterogeneous, anisotropic and not completely spatially random, and offers through the exploration of point dispersion, orientation and pattern, a viewpoint on the geography of a low-volume, basaltic monogenetic volcanic system.