Geochemical studies of igneous rocks are fundamental to classify rock types in terms of main-, minor-, trace element whole-rock chemistry. Together with petrographic observations from thin sections it is possible to classify igneous rocks and to draw interpretations about:
- The petrogenesis and evolution of igneous rocks.
- The thermal and barometric conditions in which a primary magma have formed.
- The magmatic processes that might be involved in the evolution of igneous rocks.
- The geotectonic environment in which igneous rocks might have formed.
Specific programs for the evaluation of geochemical data of igneous rocks are rare and often very difficult to use. Additionally, changing advanced settings of the created plots and the comparison with publicized data are extremely time-intensive and therefore, also expensive. FastGAPP (Fast Geochemical Analysis Plotting Program), a MATLAB-based program automatically reads geochemical datasets from sorted Excel Spreadsheets, normalizes the data volatile-free, and plots up to 4 datasets in the common geochemical and geotectonic classification diagrams. With the PLOT-O-MAT function it is possible to plot elements or elemental ratios into linear, semi-logarithmic, logarithmic and ternary diagrams, interactively. Another integrated program Petro Plot allows displaying petrographic observations from volcanic, plutonic, gabbroic, or ultramafic rocks. Therefore, the first version of FastGAPP yields an interesting, very user-friendly base with many applications in research and teaching of whole-rock geochemistry and petrography. FastGAPP (including manual and quick start guide) is now available for download here on digital-geography.com! Support: http://www.facebook.com/groups/fastgapp.support/ Downloads:
- ZIP: FastGAPP
- PDF: FastGAPP-Manual
- PDF: FastGAPP-QuickStartGuide
