Resources
Software for the Analysis of Paleomagnetic Data
IAPD 2016 (Windows 7, 8 and 10)
The acronym IAPD stands for "Interactive Analysis of Paleomagnetic Data," and that is exactly what this program allows you to do. IAPD will take you through the analysis of demagnetization data at the specimen level, identification of characteristic magnetic components, calculations of site-mean directions and virtual geomagnetic poles (VGP), group statistics and field tests — all the way to the time-averaged magnetic directions and paleomagnetic poles. Simply put, the IAPD includes all necessary tools that a paleomagnetist may need in a single software package.
IAPD 2016 was developed by Trond H. Torsvik, with some minor contributions from Pavel V. Doubrovine and Mathew Domeier.
Features:
- Easy-to-use, menu-driven interface
- Support for many popular magnetometer file formats (e.g., AGICO, 2G/WSGI) and capability of defining custom input data formats
- Output file formats compatible with the GMAP software
- Rapid display of demagnetization data
- Principal component analysis (PCA) for definition of magnetization components and remagnetization circles
- Fisherian statistics for calculating mean directions and VGPs
- Tools for performing common statistical tests (test for a Fisherian distribution, reversal test, fold test, test for a common age)
- Other useful utilities (e.g., sun compass, bedding correction, calculation of paleolatitude)
IADP 2016 is maintained by Trond H. Torsvik; please contact him to report bugs and installation issues, and to put requests for additional features: t.h.torsvik (at) geo.uio.no
GMAP 2015 (Windows 7, 8 and 10)
GMAP 2015 is a computer program that performs the processing and plotting tasks usually associated with presentation of paleomagnetic pole positions, and generation of paleogeographic reconstructions.
Originally, the GMAP software was developed by Trond H. Torsvik at the University of Bergen (1982); the 2015 version includes later contributions from Lauri Pesonen, Mark A. Smethurst (Torsvik & Smethurst 1989) and Pavel V. Doubrovine.
Features:
- Easy-to-use, menu-driven interface
- Calculates mean poles and pole statistics; generates apparent polar wander (APW) paths
- Generates reconstructions based on individual paleomagnetic poles, averaged paleomagnetic poles, and smooth APW curves
- Easy export of graphics into Windows-based drawing packages (e.g., Adobe Illustrator)
- Capability of producing animations for paleogeographic reconstructions
- Supplied with a full range of continental outlines; new outlines can be imported from text and ARC GIS shape files
GMAP 2015 is maintained by Trond H. Torsvik; please contact him to report bugs and installation issues, and to put requests for additional features: t.h.torsvik (at) geo.uio.no
For older GMAP versions visit www.geodynamics.no
Reconstruction Software
BugPlates (Windows 7, 8 and 10)
CEED is currently in process of developing advanced GIS-oriented reconstruction software for paleontologists, and BugPlates is a stripped-down version of our first software development. BugPlates operates only between 540 and 250 Ma but has a unique capability to interface with fossil databases.
BugPlates was written by Trond H. Torsvik and is a part of the IGCP 503 Project: Early Paleozoic biogeography and paleogeography.
BugPlates is maintained by Trond H. Torsvik; please contact him to report bugs (no pun intended) and installation issues, and to put requests for additional features: t.h.torsvik (at) geo.uio.no
Third-party Software Resources
Below you can find an admittedly incomplete list of paleomagnetic and rock magnetic software from our colleagues worldwide. As of June 2016, all software listed below was available for download, although some of these packages appear to be not maintained or outdated. Please let us know if something good is missing.
Paleomagnetic Software
- DAIE : Demagnetization analysis in MS Excel by Leonardo Sagnotti (Windows, Mac)
- PaleoMag 3.1 : Paleomagnetic data analysis software by Craig Jones (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Paleomagnetism.org : An online application for the interpretation and statistical evaluation of paleomagnetic data by the Paleomagnetism.org team, Utrecht University
- PmagPy : Paleomagnetic software from MagIC by Lisa Tauxe (Windows, Mac)
- PuffinPlot : Paleomagnetic analysis by Pontus Lurcock (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Remasoft 3.0 : Paleomagnetic data browser and analyzer for Windows by AGICO (Windows)
- ThellierTool : Software for analyzing paleointensity data by Leonhardt et al. (Windows)
- ZPLOTIT : Software for PCA analysis and plotting by Gary Acton (Mac, Linux, Unix)
Rock Magnetic Software
- Anisoft 4.2 : Analysis and plotting of AMS data by AGICO (Windows)
- Cureval 8 : Analysis of low-field thermomagnetic curved by AGICO (Windows)
- FORCinel : Software for FORC analysis by Joshua Feinberg and Richard Harrison (Windows, Mac)
- FORCIT : Software for FORC analysis by Gary Acton (Mac, Linux, Unix)
- VARIFORC : Software for advanced processing of FORC data by Ramon Egli (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Paleomagnetic Data Resources
GPMDB version 4.6b (Microsoft Access)
GPMDB v. 4.6b is the latest version of the ever-popular IAGA paleomagnetic database that was released in June 2011 and includes a global compilation of paleomagnetic poles and directions that have been published up to December 2004, the Australian paleomagnetic results published up to January 2011, and some additional data published in 2005-2010.
The database was originally created by Michael McElhinny and Jo Lock (1996), and later maintained by Sergei Pisarevsky.
The GPMDB has been down for many years now, and the IGGL team, in collaboration with Sergei Pisarevsky (University of Western Australia), is committed to bringing it back to life by updating it with new paleomagnetic results. From 2016 on, new versions of GPMDB will be released on a yearly basis.
For older GPMDB versions visit www.ngdc.noaa.gov
Third-party Data Resources
Below is a list of publicly-available paleomagnetic and rock magnetic data resources. Please let us know if we missed something.
