Adding documentation to oceanic plate feature#862
Adding documentation to oceanic plate feature#862simransuresh wants to merge 12 commits intoGeodynamicWorldBuilder:mainfrom
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simransuresh
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Jan 21, 2026
simransuresh
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- added working of oceanic plate feature
- how is a oceanic plate defined in GWB
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PR is ready for review. Changes:
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MFraters
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MFraters
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Thanks, looks great! I think it needs to be extended a bit, mentioning also the other plugins and I have a few small comments about references, but otherwise looks good.
| An oceanic plate in the Geodynamic World Builder (GWB) represents a piece of rigid lithosphere that is created at mid-ocean ridges through seafloor spreading where the upwelling mantle material partially melts and builds new oceanic crust. This plate moves laterally away from the ridge over time as new crust is produced. This motion is driven by plate tectonics and mantle convection. The plate cools and thickens with age as it moves away from the ridge axis, forming a thermal boundary layer. Older oceanic plates are colder, denser, and mechanically stronger than younger ones. With aging, it ultimately recycles at subduction zones, where the colder hence denser oceanic plate sinks back into the mantle. This full life cycle — birth, movement, cooling, and eventual destruction — defines the dynamic nature of oceanic plates in Earth’s tectonic system. | ||
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| ```{note} | ||
| To details, refer to the paper by F.Crameri et al, 2019 - "The dynamic life of an oceanic plate" |
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Can you change it to
{cite:p}`Crameri_etal_2019`
(or something similair) and make sure it is added to the bibliography?
| ## Thermal Structure | ||
| The primary purpose of the oceanic plate feature is to assign temperatures based on lithospheric cooling models. The temperature is calculated based on the age of the plate at any given location. If the age varies across the plate, it can be calculated dynamically by providing `ridge coordinates` and a `spreading velocity`. In this case, the age at any point within the polygon is determined by its distance from the specified ridge axis and the rate of plate motion. | ||
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| With the age determined, the temperature profile $T(z, t)$ is now calculated using one of the following models: |
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It is not rendering, but I will have to fix that in a separate pull request. So this should be fine.
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| With the age determined, the temperature profile $T(z, t)$ is now calculated using one of the following models: | ||
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| * **Half-space cooling model**: Based on an analytical solution for a cooling semi-infinite half-space. |
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Can you add references for this and the plate model?
| With the age determined, the temperature profile $T(z, t)$ is now calculated using one of the following models: | ||
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| * **Half-space cooling model**: Based on an analytical solution for a cooling semi-infinite half-space. | ||
| * **Plate model**: This model assumes a constant temperature at a fixed basal depth, preventing the lithosphere from thickening indefinitely as it ages. |
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I think also the other temperature plugins should be mentioned: https://github.com/GeodynamicWorldBuilder/WorldBuilder/tree/main/source/world_builder/features/oceanic_plate_models/temperature
| * **Plate model**: This model assumes a constant temperature at a fixed basal depth, preventing the lithosphere from thickening indefinitely as it ages. | ||
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| ## Composition | ||
| Compositional layers (such as oceanic crust or depleted lithospheric mantle) can be added to the plate using the `composition models` parameter. These layers are defined relative to the top of the feature. A common model is the `uniform`, where for example, an uniform layer of oceanic crust can be defined from the `min depth` down to a specific thickness, followed by a layer of lithospheric mantle. |
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Same for the composition: https://github.com/GeodynamicWorldBuilder/WorldBuilder/tree/main/source/world_builder/features/oceanic_plate_models/composition
also the grains and velocity systems and their options should be mentioned.
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composition models added. grains and velocity models upcoming in the next commit.
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grains and velocity models are added. Doc is written primarily from code and comments in code and some background information (for eg: J.Dannberg et al 2017 - The importance of grain size to mantle dynamics and seismological observations ) which I might need to add as reference.
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This is great, you are going in the right direction. I did want to mention that you have accedentally checked in |
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PR review comments are addressed. Additions/Changes:
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Thanks for the updates. I don't think the text at the grains and velocity sections looks correct to me. Let's talk about that in our next meeting. |
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