platemodeller

Platemodeller is a computational framework designed to model the dynamics of Earth's lithospheric plates. It represents plates as discrete surfaces or meshes and simulates their motions under driving forces such as ridge-push and slab-pull, as well as resistive mantle flow and surface boundary conditions. The software supports common numerical methods used in geodynamics, including finite element and finite difference approaches, and it can incorporate variations in viscosity, density, and rheology through layered or viscoelastic models.

A typical workflow involves assembling a plate boundary dataset, setting material properties and rheology, specifying boundary and initial conditions, and running time-stepping simulations. Output typically includes plate motions, deformation fields, topography changes, stress and strain histories, and synthetic geophysical signals for comparison with observations. Visualization and post-processing tools are commonly used to explore kinematic and dynamic results.

Platemodeller is used in academic research and education to investigate plate tectonics, mountain-building processes, continental breakup, and paleogeographic reconstructions. It can be integrated with data sources such as paleomagnetic, seismic, and geodetic observations to test hypotheses about past and present plate configurations.

Development and licensing vary by implementation. Some platemodeller projects are released under open-source licenses with community contributions, while others are distributed as proprietary software with supported workflows. The field includes several software packages that share similar capabilities, differing in numerical methods, data formats, and visualization options.

See also: Plate tectonics, Geodynamics, Finite element method, Mesh generation.