The aim of this book is to unlock the power of the freeware R language
to advanced university students and researchers dealing with whole-rock
geochemistry of (meta-) igneous rocks. The first part covers data
input/output, calculation of commonly used indexes and plotting in R.
The core of the book then focusses on the presentation and practical
implementations of modelling techniques used for fingerprinting
processes such as partial melting, fractional crystallization, binary
mixing or AFC using major-, trace-element and radiogenic isotope data.
The reader will be given a firm theoretical basis for forward/reverse
modelling, followed by exercises dealing with typical problems likely to
be encountered in real life, and their solutions using R. The concluding
sections demonstrate, using practical examples, how a researcher can
proceed in developing a realistic model simulating natural systems. The
appendices outline the fundamentals of the R language and provide a
quick introduction to the open-source R-package GCDkit for
interpretation of whole-rock geochemical data from igneous and
metamorphic rocks.