computer science

GPlates

GPlates is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand GPlates rather than just read about it. In short: GPlates is open-source application software offering a combination of interactive plate-tectonic reconstruction, geographic information system (GIS) functionality, and raster data visualisation. The GPlates software platform includes the main desktop application, command line tools, R, and Python wrappers (rgplates, pyGPlates, PlateTectonicTools, and gplately), a web service, a mobile app, and a Python package for d…

Key takeaways

GPlates belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect GPlates to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of GPlates from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

GPlates is open-source application software offering a combination of interactive plate-tectonic reconstruction, geographic information system (GIS) functionality, and raster data visualisation. The GPlates software platform includes the main desktop application, command line tools, R, and Python wrappers (rgplates, pyGPlates, PlateTectonicTools, and gplately), a web service, a mobile app, and a Python package for downloading plate tectonic datasets. GPlates also supports integration with GeoServer and PostGIS databases. The existence of this correlated software is intended to further the utility of GPlates as a central hub for computer analysis of tectonic data.

History GPlates was conceived in 2002 by the following committee:

Dietmar Müller [committee chair] (University of Sydney) Stuart Clark (University of Sydney) Mike Coffin (ORI/IFREE) Mike Gurnis (Caltech) Lawrence Lawver (PLATES/UTIG) Louis Moresi (Monash University/VPAC) Tim Redfield (PGP/NGU) Walter Roest (GSC) Trond Torsvik (PGP/NGU) The first GPlates prototype ("GPlates 0.5") was released on 30 October, 2003. The first stable version GPlates 1.0.0 was released in 2010. The latest stable release is GPlates 2.5 and was released in 15 April, 2024. In 2012, the GPlates team won the NeCTAR/ANDS #nadojo competition. And in the same year, the GPlates team started the development of GPlates Portal and Web Service. In 2014, the GPlates Web Portal and Web Service were launched. In 2016, the first public version of pyGPlates was released. The pyGPlates beta revision 28 was released on 8 August 2020. This is the first version which supports Python3. The latest pyGPlates release is 0.36 and was released in May 2022. In 2022, the first version GPlately was released. The latest GPlately release is 1.0.0 and was released in April 2023. After keeping source code on Apache Subversion and SourceForge for nearly 20 years, the GPlates source code was moved to GitHub on 1 August, 2023.

Functionality

GPlates enables both the visualization and the manipulation of plate-tectonic reconstructions and associated data through geological time:

Load and save geological, geographic and tectonic feature data. Assign feature data to tectonic plates. Reconstruct feature data to past geological times. Query and edit feature properties and geometries. Modify reconstructions graphically. Visualize vector and raster data on the globe or in one of the map projections. Visualize sub-surface 3D scalar fields as isosurfaces or 2D cross-sections. Export reconstructed data as a time-sequence of exported files. Use plate polygons (with dynamic boundaries and deformation) to calculate velocity fields.

Contributors GPlates is developed by an international team of scientists and professional software developers at:

the EarthByte group in the school of Geosciences at the University of Sydney with past contributions from:

the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS) at Caltech the Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED) at the Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Norway the Geodynamics Team at the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU)

Adoption GPlates is used by geophysicists, students and researchers in academic institutions, government departments and industry. It has also gained currency in the creative worldbuilding community as a tool for maintaining realism or verisimilitude in geographic features, particularly as the worldbuilding YouTuber Artifexian used it for his fictional universe, and made a series of tutorial videos on how to use the tool. In 2019, two Australian researchers used the software to create a tectonic map of the continents within the fictional Game of Thrones universe.

Implementation GPlates runs on Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows and Linux. GPlates is written in C++ and uses OpenGL to render its 3D globe and 2D map views. It uses Qt as a GUI framework. The Boost C++ library has also been widely used. Other libraries include GDAL, CGAL, proj, qwt and GLEW. GPlates uses the GPlates Geological Information Model (GPGIM) to represent geological data in a Plate tectonics context. The GPlates Markup Language (GPML) is an XML implementation of the GPGIM derived from the Geography Markup Language (GML).

People

Developers John Cannon (active) EarthByte group, The University of Sydney John joined the GPlates development team in 2009. He is the current lead developer of GPlates. Michael Chin(Xiaodong Qin) (active) EarthByte group, The University of Sydney Michael joined the GPlates development team in 2010. He is the architect of GPlates Portal and Web service. He is also the development lead of GPlates mobile App. Robin Watson (inactive) Geodynamics team, Geological Survey of Norway Mark Turner (inactive) Enoch Lau (inactive) James Clark (inactive) James Boyden (inactive) Hamish Ivey-Law (inactive)

Scientists Professor Dietmar Müller Dietmar is the founder and current lead of the GPlates project. Professor Mike Gurnis Mike Gurnis is a co-founder of the GPlates project. Associate Professor Maria Seton Sabin Zahirovic Ben Mather Simon Williams

Licensing GPlates is released under GNU General Public License version 2.0 (GPLv2) and the source code can be found on SourceForge.

GPlates Python Binding The GPlates Python library (pyGPlates) enables access to GPlates functionality via the Python programming language. It allows users to use GPlates in a programmatic way and aims to provide more flexibility than the GPlates desktop interface can offer. The pyGPlates is available on Conda (conda-forge channel). The latest pyGPlates release is 0.36 which was released on 06 May, 2022.

GPlates Web Service The GPlates Web Service was built upon pygplates. It allows users to access the GPlates functionalities via Internet. The GPlates Web Service has been containerized. Users can deploy the Docker container locally to enhance performance and data security.

GPlately The GPlately Python library is a high-level encapsulation of pygplates and PlateTectonicTools. It was created to accelerate the spatio-temporal data analysis. GPlately is available on PyPI and Conda (conda-forge channel). The latest stable GPlately release is 2.0.0 which was released on 14 July, 2024.

GPlates Portal The GPlates Web Portal is a gateway to a series of GPlates-based web applications. Initially the portal was hosted on Nectar Cloud. Later on, it was migrated to Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud. Below is a list of applications in GPlates Web Portal.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with GPlates

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what GPlates claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to GPlates before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about GPlates ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of GPlates

In research: GPlates appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses GPlates in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: GPlates is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cross-platform free software, OpenGL, Plate tectonics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for GPlates outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study GPlates in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what GPlates means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain GPlates out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is GPlates in simple terms?

Why does GPlates matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study GPlates?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on GPlates.