High-resolution GPlates sample data to accompany an article in GSA Today

The EarthByte group has created two supplementary datasets to accompany an article in GSA Today:

Williams, S. E., Müller, R. D., Landgrebe, T. C. W., & Whittaker, J. M. (2012). An open-source software environment for visualizing and refining plate tectonic reconstructions using high-resolution geological and geophysical data sets. GSA Today, 22(4), 4-9. doi: 10.1130/GSATG139A.1

Within the paper, the authors utilise GPlates software to explore spatio-temporal relationships within geological and geophysical data sets by analyzing the data within the context of tectonic reconstructions. GPlates is an open-source plate reconstruction software application that incorporates GIS software functionality with the added dimension of geological time. Gplates is developed by EarthByte (part of AuScope) at the University of Sydney, The Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at CalTech, and the Center for Geodynamics at the Norwegian Geological Survey. GPlates is licensed for distribution under the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 2.

The datasets are intended to introduce new researchers to GPlates software, and allow researchers to explore the data described in the GSA Today article. The first supplementary data set contains a general introduction to GPlates - the first steps in loading geometries and images and reconstructing them. The second supplementary data set contains the data used for the Australia use-case described in the GSA Today article. Both supplementary datasets include tutorials and other supporting documentation.

Both datasets can be downloaded from the EarthByte website as zipped files. Go to: http://www.earthbyte.org/Resources/GSAtoday_2012.html. For further information refer to the associated publication.