Large-scale dynamic surface topography of Australia since 150 million years ago

This animation shows a model for the mantle-convection-driven component of Australian surface topography (Müller et al., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 2016). The model was calibrated against four locations in the Eastern Highlands of Australia where surface uplift had been estimated from river profile modelling by Czarnota et al. (J. Geophys. Res. 2014).

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Absolute plate motions and age of the ocean crust around Australia since 150 million years ago

This animation shows a model of absolute plate motions and the age of the ocean crust through time centered on Australia using a plate model from Müller et al. (Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science, 2016). The animation corresponds to snapshots of the tectonic evolution portrayed here as shown in Fig. 1 of Müller et al. (Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 2016).

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Reconstruction of the CGMW2010 geological map of the world – Atlantic Ocean

This animation reconstructs the CGMW (Bouysse, 2010) geology of the Atlantic Ocean region from 200 Ma to present, using the GPlates software and the plate model by Seton et al. (Earth-Science Reviews, 2012) with modifications in the Indian Ocean by Gibbons et al. (Gondwana Research, 2015). An interactive display of this reconstruction and some additional information can be found on the GPlates Portal.

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Reconstruction of the CGMW2010 geological map of the world – Indian Ocean

This animation reconstructs the CGMW (Bouysse, 2010) geology of theIndian Ocean region from 200 Ma to present, using the GPlates software and the plate model by Gibbons et al. (Gondwana Research, 2015) for the Indian Ocean. An interactive display of this reconstruction and some additional information can be found on the GPlates Portal.

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Reconstruction of the CGMW2010 geological map of the world – Antarctic region

This animation reconstructs the CGMW (Bouysse, 2010) geology of the circum-Antarctic region from 120 Ma to present, using the GPlates software and the plate model by Seton et al. (Earth-Science Reviews, 2012) with modifications in the Indian Ocean by Gibbons et al. (Gondwana Research, 2015). An interactive display of this reconstruction and some additional information can be found on the GPlates Portal.

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Reconstruction of the CGMW2010 geological map of the world – Arctic region

This animation reconstructs the CGMW (Bouysse, 2010) geology of the circum-Arctic region from 200 Ma to present, using the GPlates software and the plate model by Shephard et al. (Earth-Science Reviews, 2013). Some overlaps of geological elements are caused by small imperfections in the plate polygons published with this plate model. An interactive display of this reconstruction and some additional information can be found on the GPlates Portal.

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Hawaiian plume motion through geological time

The video, created by Rakib Hassan, shows the southward motion of the modelled Hawaiian plume over geological time and the evolution of its tilt. Note the fast southward motion of the plume before 50 Ma, driven by the southward motion of its root at the northern edge of the Pacific Large Low-Shear Velocity Province (LLSVP). This motion came to a halt after 50 Ma. The black contour marks the 75% chemical concentration isosurface 100 km above the core mantle boundary. 

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Evolution of deep mantle flow under the Pacific Ocean

The video, created by Rakib Hassan, shows the evolution of mean poloidal deep mantle flow in a 300 km thick shell above the core mantle boundary over the last 140 million years. N-S oriented cross sections along two profiles through the Pacific Large Low-Shear Velocity Province (LLSVP) show the evolution of its edges driven by subduction-induced flow.

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Tectonic Plate Velocities from the Triassic Period (230 million years ago) to the present

Reconstructions of absolute plate velocities, with colours and vector lengths indicating plate speed and vector azimuths representing absolute plate motion directions. Subduction zones are coloured magenta teethed lines that indicate subduction polarity, mid-ocean ridges are black lines and coastlines and boundaries between continental blocks and terranes are shown as grey lines. Hammer projection with 30°W … Read more…

Plate reconstruction with ocean basin paleo-ages

A global animation accompanying the publication Global continental and ocean basin reconstructions since 200 Ma.Citation Seton, M., et al. (2012), Global continental and ocean basin reconstructions since 200 Ma, Earth-Science Reviews, 113(3-4), 212-270. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.03.002.View the full playlist on our EarthByte YouTube channel

Plate reconstruction with paleo-bathymetry of the ocean basins

Reconstructions of tectonic plates and oceanic paleodepth (i.e. paleobathymetry).Citation Müller, R., M. Sdrolias, C. Gaina, and W. Roest (2008). Age, spreading rates, and spreading asymmetry of the world’s ocean crust, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 9(4), 19, Q04006. doi: 10.1029/2007GC001743.View the full playlist on our EarthByte YouTube channel

Geodynamics of arc-continent collisions

Courtesy of Prof Louis Moresi, created with the ellipsis software.Citation O’Neill, C., Moresi, L., Müller, R.D., Albert, R. and Dufour, F., 2006, Ellipsis 3D: a particle-in-cell finite element hybrid code for modelling mantle convection and lithospheric deformation, Computers and Geosciences, 32, 1769-1779.View other EarthByte animations on our YouTube channel

Global plate and continental velocities since Pangea breakup

This animation portrays the motion of continents (grey, yellow, orange and red) and oceanic plates (blue) since Pangea breakup from 200 million years ago. The model is a modified version of the Seton et al.Citation Zahirovic, S., R. Müller, M. Seton, and N. Flament (2015), Tectonic speed limits from plate kinematic reconstructions, Earth and Planetary … Read more…

Gondwana breakup and the Western Tethys (regional view)

By popular demand, Sabin Zahirovic provides a few more GPlates animations of the breakup of Pangea and Gondwana since 200 million years ago. This animation is in a hemispherical view and is based on the model of Seton et al. (2012). All the files needed to make this animation are in the GPlates SampleData folder, … Read more…

Plate reconstructions of Southeast Asia

This animation is from our recent work on Southeast Asian plate reconstructions.Read the peer-reviewed paperCitationZahirovic, S., M. Seton, and R. Müller (2014), The Cretaceous and Cenozoic tectonic evolution of Southeast Asia, Solid Earth (EGU), 5, 227-273. doi: 10.5194/se-5-227-2014.View similar animations on our EarthByte YouTube channel