Features of GPlates

What is a plate-tectonic reconstruction?

The motions of tectonic plates through geological time may be described and simulated using plate-tectonic reconstructions. Plate-tectonic reconstructions are the calculations of the probable positions, orientations and motions of tectonic plates through time, based upon the relative (plate-to-plate) positions of plates at various times in the past which may be inferred from other data. Geological, geophysical and paleo-geographic data may be attached to the simulated plates, enabling a researcher to trace the motions and interactions of these data through time.

The GPlates program is accompanied by royalty-free data and a comprehensive user manual.

What can GPlates do?

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As of GPlates 1.4, GPlates functionality includes:

• loading and saving geological, geographic and tectonic feature data:
  • loading feature data from the following formats:
    • GPML / compressed GPML
    • Plates4 line-format
    • ESRI Shapefile (including the ability to map shape attributes in a Shapefile to feature properties in GPlates on a user-specified, per-Shapefile basis)
    • GMAP VGP (Virtual Geomagnetic Pole) data files.
  • saving feature data in the following formats:
    • GPML / compressed GPML
    • Plates4 line-format
    • ESRI Shapefile
    • GMT “xy” format, with a variety of options for headers
  • recording and restoring previous sessions of files opened by the user
  • cookie-cutting and assigning plate IDs to loaded data using plate polygons
• loading and saving reconstruction poles (finite rotations which enable geological, geographic and tectonic features to be reconstructed through geological time):
  • loading reconstruction poles from the following formats:
    • GPML / compressed GPML
    • Plates4 rotation-format
  • saving reconstruction poles in the following formats:
    • GPML / compressed GPML
    • Plates4 rotation-format
• displaying raster images:
  • loading multiple raster images in JPEG and NetCDF format, including time-sequences of raster images, to enable visualisation of “gridded” geophysical data such as mantle density anomalies, mantle convection-driven dynamic surface topography and the crustal age or spreading rate of the ocean floor — both:
    • global raster images, which are assumed to cover the whole globe, from -180 to +180 degrees longitude and -90 to +90 latitude, and
    • smaller rasters with regional georeferencing and potentially projected spatial reference system
  • cookie-cutting raster images using static plate polygons.
  • reconstructing raster images along with vector data.
• viewing feature data and raster images in a graphical display:
  • displaying geological, geographic and tectonic features, as well as raster images, on the globe, in any of the following map-projections:
    • 3-D Orthographic Globe
    • Rectangular
    • Mercator
    • Mollweide
    • Robinson
  • moving and re-orienting the camera (the viewpoint of the user), by “dragging” the mouse on the globe, using the keyboard arrow keys, or specifying the desired viewpoint in a dialog box
  • activating a full-screen presentation mode, by pressing F11 to switch to a minimalist interface ideal for demonstrating data and animations on digital projectors
  • zooming the camera, using the scroll-wheel of the mouse, the Zoom In tool, or the slider on the right-hand-side of the reconstruction view
  • choosing different colouring schemes for vector features and for NetCDF gridded data
  • exporting a 2-D geometry snapshot of the current projected contents of the reconstruction view in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format, for later viewing in a web-browser or vector-graphics editor such as Adobe Illustrator
  • annotating the view with text including the current reconstruction time
  • managing loaded data as a series of layers allowing fine control over feature visibility
• calculating and displaying plate-tectonic reconstructions:
  • reconstructing features to a desired geological time-instant, or animating over a period of geological time
  • exporting “reconstructed geometries” (feature geometries at a particular reconstruction time in the past) in the following formats:
    • ESRI Shapefile
    • GMT “xy” format, with a variety of options for headers
  • calculating velocity fields according to plate motions
  • displaying flowlines and motion paths visualising plate motion
  • exporting “data animations” — each frame of a reconstruction animation saved automatically to disk in a sequence of files:
    • all reconstructed feature geometries (as GMT .xy files or Shapefiles)
    • a 2-D vector graphics snapshot of the view (as SVG files)
    • a 2-D bitmap image snapshot of the view (as PNG, etc. files)
    • numerical raster data (as NetCDF, GeoTIFF, etc. files) in rectangular projection
    • colour raster data (as PNG, etc. files) in rectangular projection
    • all velocity fields (as GPML files)
    • resolved topologies as a sequence of static polygons (as GMT .xy files)
    • equivalent total and stage rotation data
    • flowlines and motion paths
• interacting with features graphically:
  • choosing a feature, to query or edit its properties, by clicking upon its displayed geometry
  • digitisation of new geometries for the creation of new features
  • modifying the geometry of a feature interactively by dragging vertices, inserting vertices, deleting vertices, or splitting a feature into two at a given point.
  • measuring distances, along the geometry of existing features, during digitisation, or between arbitrary user-chosen points on the globe.
  • cloning features to modify copies of a feature
• tabular display of data:
  • listing tables of reconstruction poles (finite rotations) for the current reconstruction time:
    • relative and equivalent rotations for each plate
    • a tree-like representation of the rotation hierarchy
    • the circuit between any plate and the stationary reference frame
  • listing total reconstruction sequences for loaded rotation files:
    • displaying metadata associated with GPlates Rotation (GROT) files
    • editing total reconstruction poles and inserting new ones
  • exporting tables of reconstruction poles in CSV (comma-separated value) format, for later viewing in a spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel.
  • listing tables of Shapefile attributes on a per-file basis, with one attribute per column
• modifying reconstructions graphically:
  • manipulation of reconstruction poles by dragging the mouse cursor to move plates, including the ability to constrain the latitude, or constrain to a stage pole, during the interactive adjustment.
• interactive plate-boundary closure, enabling GPlates to generate plate-tectonic boundary conditions for geodynamic models in software such as:
  • the widely-used, open-source, spherical mantle-convection package CitComS
  • the next-generation AuScope-funded mantle-convection package Underworld
• a suite of virtual geomagnetic pole tools:
  • create new VGPs
  • calculate reconstruction poles based on VGPs
  • configure the visualisation of VPG data

What's next in GPlates?

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We are currently working on the following functionality:

• project files
• python Application Programming Interface (API)
• volume visualization (3D scalar field) enhancements

Future functionality will include:

• Hellinger tool
• Improved symbology (line symbols, polygon fill patterns, map symbols to feature properties)
• Improved handling of plate cross-overs