Software Links

revised 07/30/2020

This is a list of links to computer software available on other servers. URLs are given where you can download software at no cost. Commercial software is not included. The link for each software title leads to the home page (if available); follow the compute (Mac) (PC) links for direct downloads.

mineralogic, crystallographic, spectroscopic

• AMPH 2012 - gives the correct name to amphibole compositions after the IMA report (Hawthorne et al., 2012, American Mineralogist, 97, 2031-2048). This 2.0 version also covers orthorhombic amphiboles and acknowledges the recent recognition of the new rootnames ghoseite (for rootname 11) and suenoite (for the orthorhombic counterpart of rootname 3). Mistakes in the use of the magnesio- prefix have been corrected. Multiple entries from a file are now allowed. by Roberta Oberti.
• Birefringence - an app that offers configurable and fully interactive Michel-Lévy color charts, interactive Reith-Sorenson charts, and a database of 562 minerals with optical and physical properties of each mineral. This app may offer the best color charts available anywhere, with a true representation of the colors you observe in your polarised light microscope, and their configurability and interactivity is unique. by Andrew Barlow and Frank Mazdab (of RockPTX.com).
• Euhedra and Euhedra-Lite - are crystal shape drawing programs written by Bill Tislar, of T&T Technology. Bill Tislar has created a lite version, Euhedra-L, that can open and manipulate crystal models that have already been created but will not allow access to the information used to create those models (e.g. symmetry, Miller indices of forms, etc.). Thus, students can use this to view and manipulate crystal models, similar to having wooden models in hand (Early Crystal Models), but do not have access to the information that they may be asked to find by inspecting these models. The standard version has full functionality and an extensive help menu. Windows and Mac versions of both the standard and lite versions are available in the zip files below. Both versions of the program and the models are free.
• DRAWxtl - displays crystal structures on ordinary computer hardware and operating systems. Four forms of graphics are produced: (1) an openGL window for immediate viewing, (2) the Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer (POV-RAY) scene language for publication-quality drawings, (3) the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) for dissemination across the Internet, and (4) a Postscript rendering of the OpenGL window for those that want high-quality output but do not have POV-RAY installed. DRAWxtl runs on Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, and 8 (tested on the preview release), Mac (OS X), Linux, other Unix-type systems. and openVMS. No special graphics hardware is required.. by Larry W. Finger, Martin Kroeker, and Brian Toby.
• EoSFit - to fit and manipulate equations of state, and other software for collecting and processing high-pressure single-crystal diffraction data. by Ross Angel.
• GALOPER is a computer program (written in Microsoft Excel macro language) which simulates the shapes of crystal size distributions (CSDs) from the crystal growth mechanisms discussed in Eberl, D. D., Drits, V.A., and Srodon, J., 1998, Deducing crystal growth mechanisms for minerals from the shapes of crystal size distributions. American Journal of Science, v. 298, p. 499-533. Measured CSDs are simulated with Galoper to discover crystal growth history. It available for downloading from the USGS ftp site: GALOPER. by Dennis D. Eberl.
• ISOPLOT from the Berkeley Geochronology Center is a flexible tool for the mathematical and graphical interpretation of radiogenic-isotope data, especially as applied to geochronology. Isoplot can:
  • Calculate and plot classical isochrons (Rb/Sr, Sm/Nd, U/Pb, Re/Os, Lu/Hf…)
  • Construct U-Pb concordia plots and calculate ages using conventional concordia intercepts, the “Concordia Age” algorithm, 3-D planar concordia intercepts, or 3-D linear (“Total U/Pb”) isochrons;
  • Calculate uranium-series isochron ages using 3-D or 2-D isochrons and construct 230Th/238U-234U/238U evolution curves and isochrons;
  • Plot Ar-Ar step-heating diagrams and find the statistically-best plateau steps and age;
  • Combine Ar-Ar isochron with Ar-Ar step-heating diagrams to obtain the logically optimum combination of both;
  • Use simple Bayesian constraints Improve the estimates and error-assignments for a package of stratigraphically-constrained radiometrically-dated units whose ages overlap within errors (with a special variant for 230Th/U ages);
  • Construct single-stage growth-curves for plots of com­mon-Pb data;
  • Construct cumulative-probability / histogram plots and linearized-probability diagrams;
  • Calculate both conventional (analytical-error weighted) and robust (nonparametric) x-y regressions for “classical” and Pb-Pb isochrons;
  • Deconvolute mixtures of components having Gaussian error-distributions using the Sambridge-Compston approach;
  • Calculate and construct plots for either error-weighted or robust (nonparametric) averages of a single variable;
  • Plot curves for almost any function;
  • Provide Monte Carlo errors as well as asymptotic (first-order) errors for most linear regressions, isochrons, and concordia-intercept solutions;
  • Extract reliable ages and errors from complex suites of Phanerozoic single-zircon dates;
  • Expand the number of Excel functions by more than 50, including many functions for radiogenic-isotopes (including 16 for U/Pb and 8 for 230Th-234U-238U alone).
  • Isoplot is available without charge at http://www.bgc.org/isoplot_etc/isoplot.html.
• KALI Jeff Weeks' Topology and Geometry Software. Play with the 17 plane groups, the 10 point groups (plus 5-fold symmetry) and even symmetry along a line geometrygames.org. Click on Kali, and download the appropriate version. Easy to use, just start it and click away.
• WinPyrox - A Windows program for pyroxene calculation classification and thermobarometry (American Mineralogist, Volume 98, pages 1338–1359, 2013) by Fuat Yavuz.
• UnitCell: Program to refine unit cell parameters from powder diffraction data. by Tim Holland.
• OccQP: Optimization of site-occupancies in minerals using quadratic programming, as described in the article by S.E. Wright, J.A. Foley, and J.M. Hughes (Am. Min., 2000). Written and maintained by Stephen E. Wright.

petrologic

• GCDkit - The GeoChemical Data ToolKIT is a system for handling and recalculation of whole-rock analyses from igneous rocks. It is written in R, a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. Main features of GCDkit are:
  • Standard geochemical calculations involving major-, trace-element as well as Sr-Nd data
  • Effective data management (searching, grouping)
  • Common plots (binary, ternary, spider diagrams)
  • Graphic output to publication quality
  • Modular architecture (= easily expandable and modifiable)
  • Transparent functionality & availability (open source freeware, WWW)
  • GCDkit version 2.3 was released on May 11, 2008. Currently, GCDkit works under the Windows GUI, and Windows XP/Vista/7 are recommended systems. Under previous versions of Windows R may become unstable, failing to redraw graphical windows if too many of them are open. Furthermore, our users reported GCDkit functionality under Linux with emulated Windows. by Janoušek, V., Farrow, C. M. & Erban, V. 2006. Interpretation of whole-rock geochemical data in igneous geochemistry: introducing Geochemical Data Toolkit (GCDkit). Journal of Petrology 47(6):1255-1259
• GIBBS - generalized Jacobean transformation algorithm designed to perform thermodynamic calculations of heterogeneous phase equilibria useful to metamorphic petrology. The program is designed to produce graphical output of results (phase diagrams, P-T diagrams, etc.) and there are several modules sesigned to facilitate different types of phase equilibrium calculations, plus the notes from a short course given at the NEGSA meeting in Burlington, Vermont in March, 2001. by Frank Spear. MAC
• GTB - Macintosh GeoThermoBarometry program. by Matt Kohn and Frank Spear.
• MAGMA - Program to calculate the IUGG volcanic rock classification, CIPW norms, viscosity, and density of magmatic silicate liquids from chemical composition and temperature. by Kenneth H. Wohletz.
• MELTS - a software package designed to facilitate thermodynamic modeling of phase equilibria in magmatic systems. It provides the ability to compute equilibrium phase relations for igneous systems over the temperature range 500-2000 °C and the pressure range 0-2 GPa. by Mark Ghiorso.
• PERPLE_X - petrologic phase equilibria. by James Connolly
• PhasePlot - a computational thermodynamics software package for visualizing equilibrium phase relations in application to the Earth and other silicate planetary bodies. The program determines abundances and compositions of solid and liquid phases based upon several thermodynamic data/model collections, including the work Ghiorso and colleagues (MELTS and pMELTS) on magmatic systems and the work of Stixrude and Lithgow-Bertelloni on phase relations in silicate systems at high pressure. The objective of PhasePlot is rapid visualization of equilibrium phase relations with the aim of promoting a deeper understanding of complex multicomponent systems and the utility of computational thermodynamics in broadening our appreciation of the natural world. The goal of PhasePlot is to create a computational environment that stimulates thinking about phase equilibria and its applications to natural systems, without the burden and distraction associated with the mechanics of performing these calculations. PhasePlot is a sophisticated calculator for the researcher and student of high-temperature phase equilibria. by Mark Ghiorso.
• QUILF - PASCAL program to assess equilibria among Fe- Mg-Ti oxides, pyroxenes, olivine, and quartz. by Andersen, Lindsley and Davidson QUILF (zip file, 532 KB; This version of quilf runs under Windows 3.1 and Windows-95).
• SFT - graphical application designed to invert particle size data to find size distribution parameters of lognormal, sequential fragmentation, or sequential fragmentation/transport models, the latter two providing information about the fragmentation/transport origins of the sample (Wohletz et al., 1989, Jour Geophys Res 94: 15703-15721). by Kenneth H. Wohletz.
• Tetplot - plotting tetrahedral phase diagrams. by Frank Spear.
• THERMOCALC - database for metamorphic phase equilibria. by Roger Powell and Tim Holland.
• TWQ - thermodynamic database for metamorphic phase equilibria. by Rob Berman.
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