Articles | Volume 13, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1127-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-1127-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
07 Jul 2022
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 07 Jul 2022
| 07 Jul 2022
A tectonic-rules-based mantle reference frame since 1 billion years ago – implications for supercontinent cycles and plate–mantle system evolution
R. Dietmar Müller
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
EarthByte Group, School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW
2006, Australia
Invited contribution by R. Dietmar Müller, recipient of the EGU Stephan Mueller Medal 2021.
Nicolas Flament
GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences,
University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
John Cannon
EarthByte Group, School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW
2006, Australia
Michael G. Tetley
University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of
Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78758, USA
Simon E. Williams
Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi'an, 710069, China and
EarthByte Group, School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006,
Australia
Xianzhi Cao
Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System;
Key Lab of Submarine Geosciences and Prospecting Techniques, MOE and College
of Marine Geosciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
Ömer F. Bodur
GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences,
University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Sabin Zahirovic
EarthByte Group, School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW
2006, Australia
Andrew Merdith
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
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Latest update: 06 Jul 2025
Executive editor
This manuscript describes the oldest model of the Earth's plate mantle system (back to 1000 million years ago), which allows visualising the "beating heart" of the Earth through time, across two supercontinent cycles. The model not only appeals to the geodynamic fascination, but would also enable spatio-temporal data analysis to discover past geodynamic environments which could for example host critical mineral deposits. An accompanying animation visualises the history of subduction and deep mantle upwellings with reconstructed continents overlain.
This manuscript describes the oldest model of the Earth's plate mantle system (back to 1000...
Short summary
We have built a community model for the evolution of the Earth's plate–mantle system. Created with open-source software and an open-access plate model, it covers the last billion years, including the formation, breakup, and dispersal of two supercontinents, as well as the creation and destruction of numerous ocean basins. The model allows us to
seeinto the Earth in 4D and helps us unravel the connections between surface tectonics and the
beating heartof the Earth, its convecting mantle.
We have built a community model for the evolution of the Earth's plate–mantle system. Created...
