40Ar/39Ar THERMOCHRONOLOGY · macOS

MacArgon

Forward and inverse modelling for testing how arbitrary pressure–temperature–time paths, diffusion-domain structure and mineral growth or recrystallisation shape argon retention and step-heating age spectra.

View on the Mac App Store Download example project VERSION 9 · REQUIRES macOS 26 OR LATER

PLATFORMMac

A document-based workspace for macOS.

MODELSForward + inverse

Test a proposed history or seek an admissible fit.

DOMAINSSingle + multiple

Sphere, cylinder and slab diffusion geometries.

PRIVACYData not collected

Your project documents remain under your control.

FROM GEOLOGICAL MODEL TO TESTABLE SPECTRUM

Ask what thermal history could have produced the argon record you observe.

01 · MINERAL

Build the model crystal.

Use a single- or multi-domain diffusion model, choose sphere, cylinder or slab geometry, and enter activation energy, activation volume, frequency factor, radius and relative volume. Preset parameter sets provide starting points for minerals including muscovite, phengite, biotite, hornblende and K-feldspar.

02 · HISTORY

Draw an arbitrary P–T–t path.

Create cooling, heating, burial and exhumation histories point by point or import a tagged path. Link mineral growth, recrystallisation or diffusion-domain reduction to control points when the geological model requires a microstructural event.

03 · EXPERIMENT

Run the MacSpectrometer.

Apply the default or an imported furnace step-heating schedule. MacArgon calculates argon accumulation and loss through time, then displays the simulated apparent-age spectrum alongside the path that produced it.

04 · INTERPRETATION

Fit and test admissible histories.

Import a measured reference spectrum, select and weight control steps, and perturb chosen P–T–t points with the Monte Carlo workflow. Then calculate a sensitivity envelope to see where the fit is most responsive to the path.

MacArgon workspace with a simulated apparent-age spectrum on the left and an editable temperature–time path on the right — THE MACSPECTROMETER WORKSPACE
A simulated age spectrum and its temperature–time path stay visible together, so the consequence of a modelling change can be inspected directly.

Work with your own paths, experiments and spectra.

MacArgon keeps the ingredients of a simulation together in a reusable document and supports exchange through simply tagged text and XML.

BRING DATA IN

Import the experimental setup.

Pressure–temperature–time paths
Furnace step-heating schedules
Measured reference age spectra
Diffusion-domain parameters

TAKE RESULTS OUT

Preserve the model and its outputs.

MacArgon project documents
Simulated spectra and current P–T–t paths
Publication-oriented XML exports
PDF plots for spectra, paths and combined views

Start with a working model, then follow the science.

Open the example document to see the workflow in context, read the foundational method, or install the current Mac release.

MAC APP STORE

Get MacArgon

Open MacArgon’s direct App Store listing for the current version, compatibility and purchase information.

View MacArgon →

EXAMPLE PROJECT · ZIP

Open a MacArgon document

Download, unzip and open the example before building your own model crystal and P–T–t path.

Download example →

FOUNDATIONAL PAPER

Arbitrary P–T–t histories

Lister & Baldwin (1996), Tectonophysics 253, 83–109.

Open DOI →