1 December 2023

This directory contains a GPlates project file that loads the Zahirovic et al. (2022) plate motion model for 410 to 0 Ma. This model is in an optimised mantle reference frame, so is good for geodynamics, but not so good for paleobiology or paleoclimate. However, it does contain a deforming plate reconstruction layer for 240 to 0 Ma. 

It has an optimised mantle reference frame (recomputed since publication, when anchoring Plate ID 0), a no-net-rotation reference frame option (when anchoring Plate ID 666666), and the mantle frame from Zahirovic et al. (2016) (when anchoring Plate ID 705705). You can also activate the paleomagnetic reference frame from Merdith et al. (2021) by anchoring Plate ID 701701 - but be careful as the position of North America is not entirely consistent between 400-300 Ma. 

- DataBundleForNovice-Zahirovic_etal_2022.gproj

The GPlates project files will load in a number of geometry and rotation file layers that are all stored in the GeoData/FeatureCollections folders. If you go to File > Manage Feature Collections in GPlates, you can hover over the layers and it will provide you with the path. There is a Readme in each of those folders that explains what the data is and where it is from. 

To load these datasets in GPlates do the following:

1.  Open GPlates
2.  Pull down the GPlates File menu and select Open Project
3.  Click to select the GPROJ file
4.  Click Open 

Alternatively, drag and drop the GRPOJ file onto the globe. For more information, read the GPlates manual which can be downloaded from www.gplates.org.

Citations:

Zahirovic, S., Eleish, A., Doss, S., Pall, J., Cannon, J., Pistone, M., and Fox, P., 2022, Subduction kinematics and carbonate platform interactions: Geoscience Data Journal, doi: 10.1002/gdj3.146

Müller, RD, Zahirovic, S, Williams, SE, Cannon, J, Seton, M, Bower, DJ, Tetley, MG, Heine, C, Le Breton, E, Liu, S, Russell, SHJ, Yang, T, Leonard, J & Gurnis, M 2019, 'A global plate model including lithospheric deformation along major rifts and orogens since the Triassic', Tectonics, vol. 38, no. Fifty Years of Plate Tectonics: Then, Now, and Beyond, doi: 10.1029/2018TC005462

Cao, X, Zahirovic, S, Li, S, Suo, Y, Wang, P, Liu, J & Muller, RD 2020, 'A deforming plate tectonic model of the South China Block since the Jurassic', Gondwana Research, doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2020.11.010

Young, A, Flament, N, Maloney, K, Williams, S, Matthews, K, Zahirovic, S & Müller, RD 2019, 'Global kinematics of tectonic plates and subduction zones since the late Paleozoic Era', Geoscience Frontiers, doi: 10.1016/j.gsf.2018.05.011

Torsvik, TH, Steinberger, B, Shephard, GE, Doubrovine, PV, Gaina, C, Domeier, M, Conrad, CP & Sager, WW 2019, 'Pacific‐Panthalassic reconstructions: Overview, errata and the way forward', Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, vol. 20, no. 7, pp. 3659-89, doi: 10.1029/2019GC008402 (Relevant to updated motions in the Pacific.)

Merdith, A., Williams, S. E., Collins, A. S., Tetley, M. G., Mulder, J. A., Blades, M. L., Young, A., Armistead, S., Cannon, J., Zahirovic, S., and Müller, R. D., 2021, Extending Whole-Plate Tectonic Models into Deep Time: Linking the Neoproterozoic and the Phanerozoic: Earth Science Reviews, v. 214, doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103477


Any questions, please email:            
                                        Dietmar Müller dietmar.muller@sydney.edu.au
                                        Sabin Zahirovic sabin.zahirovic@sydney.edu.au
                                        Maria Seton maria.seton@sydney.edu.au