The Aim of this Manual

Introducing GPlates

• What is a Plate Tectonic Reconstruction?
• The Goals of GPlates

GPlates Development

Further Information

The Main Window

Reconstruction View

• Camera Control

The Menu Bar

Tool Palette

List of Menu Operations

• File
• Edit
• View
• Features
• Reconstruction
• Utilities
• Tools
• Window
• Help

1 Introducing Feature Collections

2 How to Load a File

• 2.1 The Open Feature Collection menu item
• 2.2 Drag and Drop
• 2.3 The Open Recent Session and Open Project menu items
• 2.4 How do I load a raster image in GPlates?
• 2.5 How do I load a 3D scalar field in GPlates?

3 The Manage Feature Collections Dialog

• 3.1 Saving a file

  • 3.1.1 Save…
  • 3.1.2 Save As…
  • 3.1.3 Save a Copy…

• 3.2 Saving all modified files

4 File Errors

• 4.1 Introduction

• 4.2 Error Categories

  • 4.2.1 Warning
  • 4.2.2 Recoverable error
  • 4.2.3 Terminating error
  • 4.2.4 Failure to begin

5 Unsaved Changes

• 5.1 Introduction

• 5.2 Closing GPlates with unsaved changes

  • • Discard changes
    • Don't close

Introduction

Rasters

• What are raster images?

• Which image formats does GPlates understand?

  • RGBA images
  • Floating-point images

• How do I import a raster image into GPlates?

Time-Dependent Raster Sets

• What is a time-dependent raster set?
• How do I import a time-dependent raster set into GPlates?
• How can I create my own time-dependent raster set?

3D Scalar Fields

• What is a 3D scalar field?
• How do I load a 3D scalar field into GPlates?
• How do I import a 3D scalar field into GPlates?

1 Sessions

2 Projects and Recent Sessions

3 Opening a new project

• 3.1 File Menu
• 3.2 Drag’n'drop
• 3.3 Double-click (macOS)
• 3.4 Command Line

4 Opening a recent session

5 Restoring missing files in a session

6 When is a project open?

7 Clearing the current session

8 Saving a project

9 Automatic saving of sessions

10 Unsaved Changes

• 10.1 Unsaved changes warning
• 10.2 Unsaved feature collections
• 10.3 Unsaved session changes
• 10.4 Unsaved feature collection and session changes
• 10.5 Project versus recent sessions

11 Relocating projects

• 11.1 Moving a project within your local computer

• 11.2 Copying a project to another computer

  • 11.2.1 Including colour palette files

• 11.3 Ambiguous projects

12 Compatibility of sessions across GPlates versions

1 Reconstruction View

2 Tool Palette

3 View Menu

• 3.1 Configure Text Overlay
• 3.2 Configure Velocity Legend
• 3.3 Configure Graticules
• 3.4 Choose Background Colour
• 3.5 Geometry Visibility

4 Window Menu

5 Manage Colouring

6 Symbol File

• Preparing a symbol (*.sym) file
• Using a symbol file
• Restrictions

Introduction

Layers in GPlates

What’s the difference between a layer and a file?

The Layers dialog

• Changing layer visibility
• Changing layer input connections
• Enabling and disabling a layer
• How do I make one layer draw on top of another?

Creating layers

• Automatically created layers
• Layers created by the user

Types of layers

• Reconstruction Tree Layer

  • Reconstruction Tree Options
  • Default Reconstruction Tree

• Reconstructed Scalar Coverages Layer

• Reconstructed Geometries Layer

  • Reconstructed Geometries Options

• Co-registration Layer

• Reconstructed Raster Layer

  • Reconstructed Raster Options

    • Numerical Rasters

      • Built-in Colour Palette Options

    • Colour Rasters

  • Configuring a raster that is not reconstructed

  • Configuring a raster that is reconstructed using static polygons

  • Configuring a raster that is reconstructed using static polygons and present-day age grid

  • Configuring a raster using a surface relief raster

• Resolved Topological Geometries Layer

  • Resolved Topological Geometries Options

• Resolved Topological Networks Layer

  • Resolved Topological Networks Options

• Calculated Velocity Fields Layer

  • Calculated Velocity Fields Options

• 3D Scalar Field Layer

  • Inputs

  • 3D scalar field options

  • Isosurface options

    • Isosurface Colour Mode

      • Depth
      • Scalar
      • Gradient

    • Isosurface Scalar Colour Mapping

    • Isosurface Deviation Window Mode

      • Single deviation window
      • Double deviation window
      • No Deviation window

    • Isovalue

    • Isosurface Surface Polygons Mask and Depth Restriction (Radius)

    • Quality/Performance

  • Cross sections

    • Cross Sections Colour Mode
    • Cross Section Scalar Colour Mapping
    • Cross section Surface Polygons Mask and Depth Restriction (Radius)

Introduction

Reconstruction Theory

• • Plate IDs
  • Finite Rotations
  • Total Reconstruction Poles
  • Anchored Plate ID
  • The Rotation Hierarchy

Main Window Interface Components

• Slider

  • Play
  • Pause
  • Reset
  • Fast Forward
  • Rewind

• Step Forwards One Frame / Step Backwards One Frame (Fast Forward and Rewind):

Reconstruction Menu

• Reconstruct to Time

• Step Forward One Frame

• Step Backward One Frame

• Specify Anchored Plate ID

• View Total Reconstruction Poles

  • Relative Rotations
  • Equivalent Rotations Relative To Anchored Plate
  • Reconstruction Tree
  • Plate Circuits To Stationary Plate

Animations

• Configure Animation

  • Range
  • Options
  • Playback

Introduction

Export dialog

• Export Time Sequence of Snapshots
• Export single Snapshot
• Time Range
• Time Instant
• Export Data
• Export Options
• Export Progress

Add Export dialog

• 1 Choose Data Type to Export
• 2 Choose Output File Format
• 3 Configure Export Options
• 4 Specify Output Filenames

Export Data Types

• Exporting Reconstructed Geometries

  • • Dateline wrapping option

• Exporting Projected Geometries (and Rasters, 3D Scalar Fields)

• Exporting an Image (screenshot)

• Exporting a Colour Raster

  • • Colour Raster Configure Export Options

• Exporting a Numerical Raster

• Exporting Scalar Coverages

  • • Scalar Coverages Output file format options

• Exporting Deformation

• Exporting Velocities

  • • GMT export options

    • GPML export options

    • CitcomS global export options

      • CitcomS Export Description

    • Terra text format export options

      • Terra text format export description

• Exporting Resolved Topologies(General)

• Exporting Resolved Topologies(CitcomS specific)

• Exporting Relative Total Rotation

• Exporting Equivalent Total Rotation

• Exporting Relative Stage Rotation

• Exporting Equivalent Stage Rotation

• Exporting Flowlines

• Exporting Motion Paths

• Exporting Co-registration data

• Exporting Net Rotations

1 Tools for Interacting with Features

2 Choose Feature Tool

• 2.1 Clicked Geometry Table

• 2.2 Current Feature Panel

• 2.3 Querying Feature Properties

  • 2.3.1 Feature Type
  • 2.3.2 Query Properties Tab
  • 2.3.3 Edit Properties Tab
  • 2.3.4 View Coordinates Tab
  • 2.3.5 Feature ID
  • 2.3.6 Revision ID

• 2.4 Editing Feature Properties

• 2.5 Editing Geometry

• 2.6 Adding a Feature Property

• 2.7 Viewing Coordinates

• 2.8 Copy Geometry to Digitise Tool

• 2.9 Clone Feature

• 2.10 Delete Feature

3 Features Menu

3.0 Assign Plate IDs

• 3.0.1 Specifying the reconstruction time

• 3.0.2 Reconstruction Options

• 3.0.3 Specifying how to partition features

• 3.0.4 Specifying which feature properties to copy from a polygon

• 3.1 Generate Velocity Domain Points

  • 3.1.1 CitcomS

    • Resolution
    • Output

  • 3.1.2 Terra

    • Configuration
    • Output

  • 3.1.3 Latitude/Longitude

    • Configuration
    • Output

Geometries in GPlates

• Point
• Multi-point
• Polyline
• Polygon

Geometry-Editing Tools

• Move Vertex Tool
• Insert Vertex Tool
• Delete Vertex Tool
• Split Feature Tool

In the Feature Properties Dialog

1 Digitisation

• 1.1 Digitisation Tools

1 Modify Reconstruction Poles Tool

• 1.1 Choosing a Plate ID to move
• 1.2 Adjusting a Reconstruction Pole
• 1.3 Committing Changes to a Reconstruction Pole

2 Move Pole

1 Introduction

2 Starting the tool

3 Closing the tool

4 The tab interface

5 Importing magnetic picks

6 Exporting magnetic picks

7 Viewing, editing, and creating picks and segments

• 7.1 Viewing picks

  • 7.1.1 Picks in the table
  • 7.1.2 Picks on the canvas

• 7.2 Editing picks

• 7.3 Creating picks

• 7.4 Editing segments

• 7.5 Creating segments

8 Segment numbering

9 Fitting

• 9.1 Selecting output filenames and locations
• 9.2 Providing fit settings, and performing the fit
• 9.3 Adjusting fit parameters
• 9.4 Estimating the fit uncertainty
• 9.5 Testing the fit

10 Settings

11 File formats

• 11.1 Pick files
• 11.2 Com files

1 Introduction

2 Shapefile attributes

• 2.1 Mapping shapefile attributes
• 2.2 Recording the mapping
• 2.3 Changing the mapping
• 2.4 Dateline wrapping
• 2.5 Viewing Shapefile attributes
• 2.6 Editing Shapefile attributes

3 Spatial Reference Systems

4 More about the Shapefile format

1 Introduction

2 Topology Controls and Displays

• 2.1 Topology Canvas Tools
• 2.2 Topology Task Panel
• 2.3 Topology Tab
• 2.4 Section Tab

3 Topology Sections Table

4 Topology Drawing Conventions

5 Build New Topology tool

• 5.1 Activate the Tool
• 5.2 Select Features to become Topology Sections
• 5.3 Editing the Sections Table
• 5.4 Creating the new feature

6 Edit Topology Sections tool

• 6.1 Activate the Tool
• 6.2 Editing the Topology

Introduction

Python Console

Python plugins

• Draw Style plugins
• GPlates Python Script Directory

1 Introduction

2 Co-registration Layer

• 2.1 Open Co-registration Layer
• 2.2 Configurate Co-registration Layer
• 2.3 Result Table

3 Network Interface

• 3.1 gplates.py

1 Introduction

2 Create a Deforming Network

3 Generate Deforming Mesh Points

• 3.1 Setting Topology Reconstruction Parameters

  • 3.1.1 Choose time span
  • 3.1.2 Starting reconstruction at time of appearance
  • 3.1.3 Detect individual point lifetimes
  • 3.1.4 Tessellate lines
  • 3.1.5 Deformed Network Interpolation
  • 3.1.6 Strain accumulation

4 Reconstructed Scalar Coverages Layer

• 4.1 Crustal Thickness
• 4.2 Crustal Stretching Factor
• 4.3 Crustal Thinning Factor
• 4.4 Tectonic Subsidence

5 Exponential Rift Stretching Profile

• • Parameters: