Regression trees for modeling geochemical data-An application to Late Jurassic carbonates (Ammonitico Rosso)

The obtained RT revealed a structured distribution of samples, organized either by stratigraphic section or sets of nearby sections. Averaged estimated skeletal abundance confirmed the initial observations of higher skeletal content for the most distal sections with estimated values from 18% to 27%. In contrast, lower skeletal abundance from 5% to 15% is proposed for the remaining sections. The geochemical variable that best discriminates this major trend is δ18O, at a threshold value of −0.2‰, interpreted as evidence for separation of water-mass properties across the studied areas. Other four variables were considered relevant by the obtained decision tree: C isotopes, Ca, Sr and Mn, providing new insights for further differentiation between sets of samples.