Researchers in the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney have developed a computer package that lets scientists record and study the Earth over geological time.

Their GPlates software, which they describe as “Google Earth with a time-slider,” contains powerful tools for modelling geological processes. Yet it is simple enough to use in schools or at home, and is freely available. By combining data on continental motion, fossils and sediments, for example, scientists can analyse changes in geography, ocean currents and climate over geological time.

PhD student Sabin Zahirovic used GPlates to better understand the formation of the Himalayas and Tibet. Plate motion models linked to supercomputer simulations suggest that India first ploughed through an arc of islands about 60 million years ago. India slowed down significantly as it finally collided with the Eurasian continent at about 40 million years ago to uplift the vast mountain chains we see today.

“The two-stage collision explains today’s observations of surface geology and 3D structure of the sub-surface mantle layer,” says Sabin. “It also makes sense of the changes in the speed and direction of India’s motion that were affected by the collision.”

GPlates Version 1.0, developed in collaboration with Caltech and the Norwegian Geological Survey, is the first interactive tool providing easily visualised yet sophisticated animations. Future releases will allow users to analyse large datasets to investigate relationships between different aspects of the Earth’s geology, biology and climate over time.

Photo: GPlates image showing topography (left) and predicted temperature 300 km below surface (right) as India moves towards the Eurasian continent 60mya

Credit: Sabin Zahirovic, EarthByte

School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, Sabin Zahirovic, sabin.zahirovic@sydney.edu.au, www.earthbyte.org