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AFTSolve Modeling Software:
Apatite to Zircon, Inc.
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Links:
- ftp://ctlab.geo.utexas.edu/Ketcham
(troubles loading page? 1. Stop data transfer. 2. Reload page.)
Dr. Richard A. Ketcham's (richk@maestro.geo.utexas.edu) ftp site at the University of Texas at Austin. The site contains
a self-extracting executable file AFTSacad.exe. This file contains the latest
academic version of AFTSolve (for Windows) and the user's manual (MS-Word
97 documents). For a commercial demonstration package, please contact Dr.
Raymond A. Donelick at the address at the bottom of this page.
- http://gmr.minsocam.org/papers/v2/v2n1/v2n1abs.html
Online journal Geological Materials Research posting
of Ketcham et al. (2000) entitled: ' AFTSolve: A program for multi-kinetic
modeling of apatite fission-track data'.
Summary:
AFTSolve (Ketcham et al., 2000; see our publications
link) is a computer program for deriving thermal history information from
apatite fission-track data. It implements fission-track annealing model of
Ketcham et al. (1999; see our publications
link) based on the Carlson et al. (1999; see our
publications link) experimental data that takes into account the known
kinetic variability among different apatite species. To fully utilize this
model, a fission-track worker must obtain data that can be used to infer
the kinetic characteristics of each apatite grain from which a measurement
was taken. Such data can consist of etch figure lengths or chemical composition
(Donelick, 1993; Burtner et al., 1994; Donelick 1995; Carlson et al., 1999;
see our publications link). The benefit of
this overall approach is that it allows useful information to be derived from
previously unusable analyses, extends the practical range of geological temperatures
constrained by fission-track analyses, and increases overall confidence in
model predictions. AFTSolve also incorporates the effects of fission-track
orientation relative to the apatite crystallographic c-axis (Donelick et
al., 1999; see our publications link), variation
in initial track length (Carlson et al., 1999; see our publications link), and the biasing effect
of 252Cf irradiation for enhancing confined horizontal track
length detection (Donelick and Miller, 1991; Ketcham et al., 1999; see our publications link).
AFTSolve is written for Windows operating systems and the manual is provided
in the form of MS-Word 97 documents. AFTSolve has a graphical interface
that allows interactive input of thermal histories and real-time generation
of estimates for fission-track length distributions and ages for up to six
simultaneously modeled kinetic populations. It also includes procedures
for estimating the range of time-temperature histories that are statistically
consistent with a data set and constraints entered by the user.
The latest academic, non-commercial version of AFTSolve (Version 1.2.1)
is posted on Rich Ketcham's ftp site:
ftp://ctlab.geo.utexas.edu/Ketcham
Also, we've published a paper on AFTSolve that documents how it works,
and offers some suggestions for modeling strategies. This replaces
the never-published chapters that some of you have gotten preprints of as
the thing to cite when using the model in published work. It is in
Geological Materials Research, a fairly new electronic journal put out by
the Mineralogical Society of America. You can find it at:
http://gmr.minsocam.org/papers/v2/v2n1/v2n1abs.html
The full reference is:
Ketcham, R.A., Donelick, R.A., and Donelick, M.B., 2000, AFTSolve:
A program for multi-kinetic modeling of apatite fission-track data.
Geological Materials Research, v.2, n.1.
samples and correspondence to:
Apatite to Zircon, Inc.
1075 Matson Road
Viola, Idaho 83872-9709 U.S.A.
voice: +1-208-875-2332
fax: +1-208-875-8881
e-mail: donelick@apatite.com
or osullivan@apatite.com
Please send comments and suggestions to Ray or Margaret at donelick@apatite.com
or Paul at osullivan@apatite.com
© 2003 Apatite to Zircon, Inc.
