DIFFUSUP: A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI) SOFTWARE FOR DIFFUSION MODELING

With the experimental efforts and development in high-resolution analysis in the recent decade, mineral diffusion zoning have been widely modeled to analyze the timescales of metamorphic and orogenic events. These applications in geological research, however, are hindered by the complicity of numerical simulation for diffusion, especially in multi-elements systems. To facilitate the studies, we built the software with a graphic user interface (GUI), DIFFUSUP, which adapts to simulate complicated initial conditions and thermal histories. Users do not need to handle the diffusion formula, the discretization and numerical solution, multi-component considerations, or programming details to model diffusion profiles. However, the program does require users’ conception of the initial profiles and general speculation of P-T-t evolution. The interface of DIFFUSUP is straightforward to set up the problem. For the simulation, users need to input the P-T-t condition of the geological process, measured compositional profiles, and several minor settings like the geometry and convolution factors. DIFFUSUP is a standalone open-sourced software compatible with both Windows and macOS. It is distinguished by its simplicity and flexibility for various practices. Users could download the installation package and user’s guide from the website http://diffusup.org. Comments and suggestions are welcome and will help future updates and improvements.