A team of Earth scientists has released an update to Paleolatitude.org, a web-based tool that calculates the paleolatitude of any given location over the past 320 million years.
Tool Functionality
The platform allows users to input a specific location and receive a graph showing how its latitude has shifted over time. The X-axis represents millions of years, while the Y-axis shows distance in miles. The tool does not display longitude or full globe movements. Users can export data and graphs, and can upload their own data for bulk paleolatitude computation.
Underlying Model
The work relies on the Utrecht Paleogeography Model, which covers periods including the supercontinent Pangaea (when North America was joined with Africa, South America, and Europe). The model incorporates highly deformed areas between major tectonic plates, such as the Caribbean, the Himalayas, and the Mediterranean. Researchers stated they spent 10 years completing these reconstructions.
Applications and Examples
According to the researchers, the tool can assist paleoclimatologists in tracing rock locations for ancient climate reconstruction and provide insights into ancient biodiversity and patterns following mass extinction events.
For example, fossils from a quarry near Winterswijk in the Netherlands, dated to 245 million years ago, were located at a latitude similar to modern-day Arabia at that time.
The researchers used the tool to calculate a biodiversity gradient for the late Jurassic based on approximately 34,000 marine fossils, showing which latitudes had the highest genus diversity after statistically adjusting for uncertainty.
Publication and Future Plans
The research was published in PLOS One. The team has stated that it plans to extend the model to cover up to 550 million years ago.