The PLATES Project

plates@ig.utexas.edu

The PLATES Project is a program of research into plate tectonic and geologic reconstructions. It is supported by a consortium of oil companies. The project has four main objectives:

• Model past and present plate movement. Construct accurate, high resolution global, regional or local plate models.

• Compile comprehensive databases. Apply geographical, geological and geophysical data to plate models.

• Develop plate motion computer software. Manipulate and display plate models, reconstructions, and databases.

• Apply plate motion models. Use models to examine geological problems of global and regional extent.

PLATES maintains an up-to-date oceanic magnetic and tectonic database, continuously adding new paleomagnetic, hot spot, geological and geophysical data to extend the span and accuracy of global plate reconstructions. PLATES' reconstructions are built around a comprehensive database of finite-difference poles of rotation, derived both from extensive plate motion research at UTIG, using the PLATES interactive plate modeling software, and from published studies. Updated plate motion models are in turn applied to regional tectonic studies by PLATES investigators and collaborators and by project sponsors. The plate model developed by the PLATES Project describes the evolution of the earth's oceans and the movement of the earth's tectonic plates from the Late Precambrian through the present day.

Plate tectonics is a powerful tool for reconstructing (i.e. "predicting") geological environments through geologic history, particularly if the underlying plate motion model is accurate and detailed. PLATES tools are especially useful to groups engaged in exploration for hydrocarbons or minerals on global and regional scales. PLATES reconstructions provide a solid framework on which to build detailed geological models, such as basin response to regional crustal motion, likely sequences of depositional paleoenvironment, or probable geothermal consequences of plate position or movement.

PLATES principal investigators are Dr. Lawrence Lawver and Dr. Ian Dalziel. Dr. Lawver's research areas include the tectonics of the Arctic/Antarctic polar regions. Dr. Lawver supervises the work done by PLATES students on the tectonic evolution of East and Southeast Asia. Dr. Dalziel focusses on PreCambrian tectonics as well as the tectonics of Antarctica. Lisa Gahagan is the contact (plates@utig.ig.utexas.edu) for the PLATES Project. She also manages the software and databases.

PLATES researchers and students have a long history of collaboration with researchers outside of UTIG. Funding for their projects comes from not only PLATES sponsors but also from the National Science Foundation. Some of the results from the PLATES Project are described in various publications.

Reconstructions
Below are some examples of plate reconstructions using the PLATES Project's global plate reconstruction model. Also, check out Ian Dalziel's 1997 GSA Bulletin paper.

• 750 Ma ----- Late Neo-Proterozoic

• 422 Ma ----- Silurian

• 200 Ma ----- Early Jurassic

• 140 Ma ----- Early Cretaceous

• 110 Ma ---- Early Cretaceous reconstruction of the South Atlantic free-air gravity data

• 65 Ma ----- Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary

• 30 Ma ----- Oligocene

• Present Day

• 100 m.y. into the Future

• The Making of Texas (poster produced in 1999)

Movies
(Start Powerpoint animations by selecting: Slide Show => View Show.
A Powerpoint viewer can be downloaded free from: http://www.microsoft.com/ downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=428D5727-43AB-4F24-90B7-A94784AF71A4&displaylang=en.

• The Other Side of the World (Powerpoint Animation, 180 to 0 Ma, Pacific view)

• PLATES 2002 Atlas of Plate Reconstructions (750 Ma to Present Day) (Powerpoint Animation, 2002 model)

• Texas Through Time (Powerpoint Animation, 02-03-12; supersedes From Texas to Antarctica)

• Opening of the Indian Ocean (Powerpoint Animation, 00-08-10)

• Interaction Between the Northern Melanesian Arc System and the Ontong Java Plateau (20-0 Ma)

• Tectonic Evolution of the Arctic Region Since the Ordovician (Powerpoint Animation, 00-07-09)

• Mid-Jurassic to Recent Tectonic Evolution of the Arctic Region (Powerpoint Animation, 99-12-09)

• Antarctica: Keystone of Gondwana (Powerpoint Animation, 99-06-25)

Collaborative efforts

• Tectonic Setting of the World's Giant Oil and Gas Fields - a collaborative effort with Mike Horn and Paul Mann.

• Tectonics Special Research Centre, University of Western Australia

• The South Atlantic Project (a collaborative effort with CASP; Centro de Investigaciones Geologicas, La Plata, Argentina; Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen; and Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Edinburgh)

• Digital Isochrons of the World's Ocean Floor.

• To obtain an "AGE OF THE OCEAN FLOOR POSTER", see the NOAA announcement

• A Global Isochron Chart (University of Texas Institute for Geophysics Technical Report No. 117, 1992; PDF file).

Data

• The PLATES' Caribbean bibliography is now on-line!

• Check out our image of the Present-Day plate boundaries.
  Digital ASCII files of the Present-Day plate boundaries are available via anonymous ftp:
  

  ftp ftp.ig.utexas.edu
  cd pub/LIPS/Maps/Data/plate_boundaries
     ridge.gmt - GMT-formatted file for use with psxy -M
     trench.gmt - GMT-formatted file
     transform.gmt - GMT-formatted file
     PLATES_PlateBoundary_ArcGIS.zip - ArcInfo shapefiles
     204_plate_pb.pdf.gz - Report on plate boundaries - compressed

• Present-day hotspot locations are on-line and also available via anonymous ftp:
  ftp://ftp.ig.utexas.edu/pub/LIPS/Maps/Data/hotspots.gmt

• Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) data file via ftp:
  ftp://ftp.ig.utexas.edu/pub/LIPS/Maps/Data/LIPS.2004.gmt

  ftp://ftp.ig.utexas.edu/pub/LIPS/Maps/Data/LIPS.ArcGIS.tar.gz (Arc GIS shape files)

Programs
Under construction

• Adding Euler poles

To a list of other links on plate tectonics.