New features in GPlates 1.5 include:
- Project files - this extends the existing "Sessions" capability so that users can now save and re-load the state of GPlates by using new *.gproj format project files.
- Kinematics tool - this lets users study the position and velocity of selected points over time, and to see the results immediately in both tabular and graphical form. Now users can see graphs of velocity against time for selected features with just a couple of clicks.
- GeoJSON files- file I/O capabilities are extended with import and export support for the GeoJSON format.
The 1.5 release will be followed shortly by an experimental release which includes the new Hellinger tool. This tool calculates the best-fitting rotation pole to a series of segmented magnetic picks using the method of Hellinger, and is compatible with the file formats of the widely-used FORTRAN pole-fitting programs. The Hellinger tool lets users visualise and interactively modify the input data and parameters of the fitting routine, and visualise the resulting pole and uncertainty.
The software GPlates is freely available for Windows, Mac OSX and Linux. GPlates is developed at the University of Sydney, the California Institute of Technology, and at CEED and NGU in Norway.
Visit the webpages for GPplates: www.gplates.org