Current version of the Paleolatitude.org model: 2.1.

We will keep this website up to date with the latest advances in plate kinematic reconstructions and paleomagnetic reference frames. This page will detail which updates have been carried out, and where the current website differs from the original as published in van Hinsbergen et al., 2015, PLOS ONE.

If you have feedback on our paper or this web page, please contact d.j.j.vanhinsbergen AT uu.nl.

Version 2.1, February 2016

Model data corrections: adjustments in location of the Alpine Fault in New Zealand, the Melanesian Trench, and Western Central America.
Additionally, small discrepancies (plate names and identifiers) between model data and as listed on plate reconstruction page have been corrected: identifier of plate 'Tarim' has been updated (now 430, as listed on plate reconstruction page), plate 'Mendeleyev Ridge' is now part of 'Northeast Siberia' (490), identifier of North Mozambique corrected to 712, missing plates added to table on plate reconstruction page.

Version 2.0, April 2016

The paleolatitude calculator has been updated to cover the entire Phanerozoic (550-0 Ma), where possible. The changes compared to the original calculator as described in Van Hinsbergen et al. (2015) are the following.
  1. Paleolatitudes and error bars are now available for the full age range covered by the APWP of Kent and Irving (2010), i.e., 230-50 Ma;
  2. Paleolatitudes and error bars are now available for the full age range covered by the GAPWaP of Torsvik et al. (2012), i.e., 320-0 Ma.
  3. Paleolatitudes and error bars of the China blocks have been extended beyond 130 Ma using the China APWP of Van der Voo et al. (2015). North China
    4. paleolatitudes are available since 230 Ma, and South China paleolatitudes since 170 Ma, as explained by those authors.
  4. For times prior to 320 Ma, we have included the spline-fitted APWP’s of Torsvik et al. (2012) for Gondwana (Africa, India, Madagascar, Australia, Antarctica, South America), Laurentia (North America and Greenland), Baltica, and Siberia. The spline fitting methodology used by Torsvik et al. does not allow to quantify uncertainties, and pre-320 Ma paleolatitudes are therefore included without error bars.
  5. Because some of the major post-200 Ma continents consist of fragments that were on separate plates prior to 320 Ma, the plate model has been slightly modified. The Eurasian plate (originally coded 301) is now separated into Baltica (301), Siberia (401), and the Eurasian Variscides (315) that does not extend back farther than 320 Ma. We added the Alleghanian orogen of North America (199), which prior to 320 Ma was not part stable Laurentia. The original polygon 601 for the amalgamated China blocks is now broken down into North China (601), South China (602) and Amuria (453).

Version history of v1.x

For a more detailed version history of the model implementation, please refer to our public GitHub page: https://github.com/sjvs/paleolatitude.