Data
Data are for presentaton purposes only. Data should not be used for navigation. We make no claims to accuracy of the data.

Users can click on links and save to disk.

Archived Data
PLATES has archived some of its atlases and data at The University of Texas at Austin Texas ScholarWorks under the Institute for Geophysics community. This includes our
2014 atlas of plate reconstructions
The Making of Texas poster
Eric Rosencrantz's "Overview of the Cuban Orogen" (Cuba atlas)
Eric Rosencrantz's Cuba Catalog (with well logs, reports, and some references) - to be available soon.

Data format
- Description of PLATES data format (for GPlates and other users)
- Convert GMT-format (-M) files to PLATES format: gmt2plates.f (FORTRAN)
- Convert PLATES-format files to GMT format (for use with psxy -M) : plates2gmt.f (FORTRAN)
- Given a PLATES-formatted data file, make a symbol at each point (output file is in PLATES format): makesymbol.f (FORTRAN, after JYR)
- Given a PLATES-formatted data file, count the number of points in each 'string' and add it to the header (output file is in PLATES format): point.f (FORTRAN)

Political boundaries
- Find data files of political boundaries: http://osdir.com/ml/gis.gmt.user/2003-09/msg00038.html
- Really old data set of political boundaries, already in PLATES format so you can use in GPlates, but likely outdated:
africap.dat      asiap.dat      europp.dat      indop.dat      namerp.dat      samerp.dat      u.s.states.boundary.dat

Present-day Plate Boundaries
For Present-Day plate boundaries, please use:
Coffin, M.F., Gahagan, L.M., and Lawver, L.A., 1998, Present-day Plate Boundary Digital Data Compilation. University of Texas Institute for Geophysics Technical Report No. 174, pp. 5. (PDF)

Check out our image of the Present-Day plate boundaries.
Digital files of the Present-Day plate boundaries are available below:
   204_plate_pb.pdf - Report on plate boundaries
   plate.Boundary.References_120702.pdf - Reference list for plate boundaries (updated 02 July 2012)

   GMT-formatted (ASCII) files for use with psxy -M
   ridge.gmt - GMT-formatted file for use with psxy -M
   trench.gmt - GMT-formatted file
   transform.gmt - GMT-formatted file

   KMZ files (can be used with Google Earth)
   ridge.kmz - GMT-formatted file
   strikeslip.kmz - GMT-formatted file
   trench.kmz - GMT-formatted file

   ArcGIS files for use with psxy -M
   PLATES_PlateBoundary_ArcGIS.zip - ArcInfo shapefiles

Present-day hotspot locations hotspots.gmt

Isopach data
Isopach shapefile (1995 data set derived from a data set from Mobil Exploration and Producing Technical Center, Dallas, Texas) - PLATES_isopachs_1995.zip
Reference: Golonka, J., Lawver, L.A., Coffin, M.F., Dalziel, I.W.,D., and Gahagan, L.M., 1995, Paleogeographic Reconstructions with Sediment Isopachs, PLATES Progress Report No. 104-0695, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics Technical Report No. 202, p. 14. PLATES_isopachs_report_1995.pdf

Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) data file
in PLATES (*.dat), GMT (*.gmt) and shapefiles (LIPS_mdb.zip and LIPS_shapefiles.zip).
A list of references is included. General reference:
Coffin, M.F., Duncan, R.A., Eldholm, O., Fitton, J.G., Frey, F.A., Larsen, H.C., Mahoney, J.J., Saunders, A.D., Schlich, R., and Wallace, P.J., 2006. Large igneous provinces and scientific ocean drilling: Status quo and a look ahead, Oceanography, vol. 19(4), pp. 150-160.
Data
Present Day map of LIPs
EndNote library of LIPs references last updated 2006
text version of library of LIPs references last updated 2006
Task Group on Large-Volume Basaltic Provinces, International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) newsletters:
  LIP_Reader_no01_1993.pdf
  LIP_Reader_no02_1993.pdf
  LIP_Reader_no03_1994.pdf
  LIP_Reader_no04_1994.pdf
  LIP_Reader_no05_1995.pdf
  LIP_Reader_no06_1995.pdf
  LIP_Reader_no07_1996.pdf
  LIP_Reader_no08_1996.pdf
  LIP_Reader_no09_1997.pdf
  LIP_Reader_no10_1997.pdf

Ophiolites
Ophiolites compiled by PLATES, primarily from the Exxon tectonic maps. Data set reference:
Mann, P. and A. Taira, 2004, Global tectonic significance of the Solomon Islands and Ontong Java Plateau collision zone, Tectonophysics, vol. 389, pp. 137-190, doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2003.10.024. Figure 1.
ophiolites.dat - PLATES format.
ophiolites.gmt - GMT (psxy -M) format.
ophiolites.zip - shapefile.

References for data
refnum	reference
9923	Exxon Production Research Company (World Mapping Project), 1985, Tectonic Map Series of the World, Exxon Production Research Company, Houston, TX.
2103	Instituto Geográfico Nacional, 1970, Mapa Geológico de la República de Guatemala, scale 1:500,000
2104	Rogers, R., 2000, Structural and stratigraphic constraints on the Cretaceous-Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Chortis block, Honduras: Unpublished Ph.D. Proposal, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 25 p.

Antarctica crustal blocks
ant.tar.gz - GMT-format (for use with psxy -M)
AntarcticaShapefiles.zip - shapefiles
Reference: Dalziel, I.W.D. and Elliot, D.H., 1982, West Antarctica: Problem child of Gondwanaland, Tectonics, vol. 1, issue 1, pp. 3-19.

Atwater and Severinghaus (1989) Northeast Pacific magnetic anomaly picks
Reference: Atwater, T. and Severinghaus, J., 1989, Tectonic maps of the northeast Pacific, in The Eastern Pacific Ocean and Hawaii, Winterer, E.L., Hussong, D.M., and Decker, R.W. (editors), Decade of North American Geology, vol. N, pp. 15-20.
KMZ file (GoogleEarth)
shape file
reference list

Bibliographies
Caribbean bibliographies
UTIG's Catalog of Cuban Data and Bibliography of Cuban Papers (with well logs and reports as referred to by Pardo, 2009, The Geology of Cuba, AAPG Studies in Geology #58]) as UTIG Technical Report No. 131.
List of Caribbean field guides
EndNote library of Caribbean references last updated 2008
Text version of library of Caribbean references last updated 2008

Large Igneous Provinces bibliographies
EndNote library of LIPs references last updated 2006
text version of library of LIPs references last updated 2006

533 Ma reconstruction: polygons and rotation file
Polygons and rotation file (PLATES format) used to create the 533 Ma reconstruction (Figure 4) from:
Dalziel, I.W.D., 2014, Cambrian transgression and radiation linked to an Iapetus-Pacific oceanic connection?, Geology, DOI 10.1130/G35886.1.
Dalziel_2014.zip