PaleoPro is an ArcGIS Pro add-in that provides the user with a collection of desktop tools for creating and analyzing plate tectonic reconstructions. This application allows users to incorporate their own data into the reconstructions so the data can be evaluated in its paleogeographic context.

This documentation specifically applies to PaleoPro v3 running on Esri ArcGIS Pro version 3.0.x.

Plate Models in PaleoPro

PaleoPro uses plate tectonic models to power its reconstruction capabilities. These models are produced by a number of commercial and academic vendors and must be purchased separately from PaleoPro. PaleoPro includes four “demo” plate models which allow you to try out the software without purchasing a model.

The plate model format in PaleoPro is different from the format used for PaleoGIS. Please contact your plate model vendors to get your models in PaleoPro compatible format. Alternatively, you can convert your models yourself. There are two options for doing this:

Recommended method. Use the PaleoPro Model Converter tool in PaleoGIS. This tool can be downloaded from the PaleoGIS website under Support > Downloads > PaleoPro (website registration required for access), and instructions for using it can be found here.

Use the PaleoGIS Model Converter tool that is built into PaleoPro.

Getting Started

Install PaleoPro as described here. The PaleoPro add-in will then appear as a tab at the top of the ArcGIS Pro application:

The exact position of the tab relative to other tabs may be different than shown in the image above depending on other add-ins which you may have installed.

To access PaleoPro:

Click on the PaleoPro tab to view the the PaleoPro ribbon menu:

After PaleoPro is licensed, as described below, and you load a plate model and perform reconstructions, more of the tools/buttons in the ribbon will be enabled. In general, tools will only be enabled when they are available for use. For example, the Unreconstruct button will only be enabled when a reconstructed map is activated.

If PaleoPro has not already been licensed, the window below will open. Check the I accept the license agreement terms checkbox to activate the Select a License File button.

Click the Select a License File button and then browse to and select the license file you were sent (file extension = .licx). You will only have to do this step the first time you use PaleoPro. After that the license will be saved in a location where PaleoPro can access it in subsequent PaleoPro sessions.

If PaleoPro has already been licensed on your computer, or after selecting a valid license in the previous step, this splash screen will then appear for a brief time:

Another tab called Plate Model Tools will appear next to the PaleoPro tab. This tab opens a ribbon which contains tools for editing and customizing plate models. These tools are explained in detail in the Plate Model Tools section of this document.

You are now ready to start using PaleoPro.

Configuration

The Configuration section of the PaleoPro ribbon provides access to PaleoPro settings and to plate model functions.

PaleoPro Settings

The PaleoPro application settings can be accessed by clicking the Settings button to open the PaleoPro Settings dockpane. Details of the various PaleoPro settings are described below.

Basic Settings

Output Directory: The output directory is the file system output location for all PaleoPro results. The default location is:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Rothwell\PaleoPro\Output

To change the output directory location, click the folder button to the right of the Output Directory field to browse to and select the desired directory.

Empty output directory on startup: Automatically deletes the contents of the output directory each time a PaleoPro session is started. If this option is selected, be sure to save to a different location any reconstructions/animations and other analysis results that you want to keep, as they will be deleted the next time PaleoPro is started.

Enable deformation: Enables deformation of vector layers when reconstructed by models that support deformation. If this option is not selected, models containing deformation will behave like rigid models when they are reconstructed. If this option is disabled then the currently loaded plate model doesn’t support deformation.

Only reconstruct selected features: If there are features selected in the “Present Day” map, only the selected features will be reconstructed. If no features are selected, then all features in the visible layers will be reconstructed.

Enable timeslice layers: Enables timeslice functionality for plate models that contain timeslice layers. If this option is disabled then the currently loaded plate model doesn’t contain timeslices. More details on timeslice operation is available in the Timeslices section of this document.

Add unique ID field: Adds a “PaleoUniqueId” field to the attribute tables of all vector layers in the cache. This field is automatically populated with a unique ID number for each feature in the layer. In reconstructed layers these ID numbers can be used to trace the lineage of reconstructed features back to the present day.

Ignore assigned ages: Causes reconstructions and animations to ignore the “appearance” and “disappearance” fields in the plate model and user data layers. This means that regardless of the reconstruction age, all plate model layers and all user data features that intersect a plate model plate polygon will be reconstructed and displayed during reconstructions and animations.

Map Label Settings

Expand the Map Label expander in the PaleoPro Settings dockpane to view the map label settings.

All reconstructed maps, including animations, in PaleoPro contain a label that provides information about the reconstruction such as the reconstruction age, plate model used, etc. The map label settings provide the ability to customize the label location and appearance.

To change the location of the label in the reconstructed maps, use the selection buttons in the map diagram to choose one of the eight available positions.

The Text Alignment setting allows you to pick whether the label text is center or left justified.

Use the Label Color and Text Color color pickers to customize the label background color and text color, respectively.

Advanced Settings

Expand the Advanced expander in the PaleoPro Settings dockpane to view the PaleoPro advanced settings.

Settings File Location: The path to the file geodatabase (PaleoPro_settings.gdb) that contains the PaleoPro application settings table “PaleoPro_settings”.

The table in the Advanced settings expander shows all PaleoPro settings that are currently saved in the “PaleoPro_settings” table. These settings are described in detail in the PaleoPro Application Settings section of this document. If you make changes to this table, click the Save button to permanently save the changes to the “PaleoPro_settings” table.

PaleoPro Licensing

Expand the Licensing expander in the PaleoPro Settings dockpane for access to information about and control over your PaleoPro license.

User: The computer user name of the current user

Organization: The company or other organization name associated with the PaleoPro license that is currently in use.

Update License: Use this button to switch to a different license file if, for example, you were sent a new PaleoPro license by The Rothwell Group. Clicking this button will open the window below. Check the I accept the license agreement terms checkbox to activate the Select a License File button, then click the button and browse to and select your license file (file extension = .licx).

Restart License: This button restarts the current license if it has been disabled.

Disable License: Releases the current license. You will not be able to use PaleoPro when the license is disabled.

Current Users: This table shows all people using the license you are using if you have a multi-user license. Click the refresh button to populate the table. This may take several seconds.

Plate Model Functions

Click the Plate Models button to open the Plate Models dockpane. All plate model related functionality such as loading a model and adding/removing models are accessed from this dockpane.

Loading Plate Models

The first step in performing a reconstruction, or almost any function in PaleoPro for that matter, is to load a plate model:

Select the desired plate model from the Models drop-down menu. This will activate the Load Model button:

Click the Load Model button. The poles of rotation and settings for the selected model will be loaded into memory and a new map titled “Present Day” will be created in ArcGIS Pro. This map will contain the model’s present day plate polygons, and possibly some supporting data. DO NOT change the name of this map or close it. PaleoPro looks for the “Present Day” map to determine the present day starting point for layers being reconstructed. If there is no “Present Day” map, you will not be able to perform reconstructions.

If you later load another model, the existing “Present Day” map will be renamed “Present Day_1” (or a higher number if “Present Day_1” already exists), and a new “Present Day” map will be created containing the newly loaded model’s present day layers.

Model Info Button

When you select a model in the Models drop-down menu, the Model Info button will be activated if the plate model vendor for the selected model has included a web address in the model settings for an informational website about the model. Clicking this button will open a browser window to this website.

Removing a Model From PaleoPro

To remove or “unregister” a model from PaleoPro:

Be sure that the plate model you wish to remove is not the currently loaded plate model because the loaded plate model cannot be removed (the Unregister Model button will be disabled). If it is loaded, load a different plate model before proceeding.

Select the model to be removed in the Models drop-down menu.

Click the Unregister Model button to remove the plate model from PaleoPro.

View Loaded Model Settings

To view the settings associated with the currently loaded plate model, expand the Loaded Model Settings expander to show the settings table:

The settings in this table are loaded from the “MODEL_SETTINGS” table in the currently loaded plate model’s file geodatabase.

If you make model setting changes, click the Save button to permanently save the changes to the “MODEL_SETTINGS” table in the plate model file geodatabase. You should reload the plate model after saving changes because changes to certain settings will not take effect until the model is reloaded.

Adding Models to PaleoPro

To add or “register” a model in PaleoPro:

Expand the Register Model expander:

Click the folder button to the right of the Model Geodatabase Path field to browse to and select the desired plate model file geodatabase.

The Model Name field will be automatically populated with either the model name provided by the plate model vendor in the model settings, or if a name wasn’t provided, the name of the plate model file geodatabase. If desired, you can change this name. The name in the Model Name field is the name that will be displayed in the Models drop-down menu.

If you want the model to be loaded immediately after the registration process is complete, leave the Load model after registering checkbox checked. Otherwise, uncheck this option.

Click the Register button to register the model and load it if that option was selected in the previous step. The newly registered model will now be listed in the Models drop-down menu.

View Registered Model Paths

Expand the Registered Model Paths expander to view a table of the registered models and the paths to their corresponding file geodatabases:

The information in this table is loaded from the “Registered_Models” table in the PaleoPro settings file geodatabase (PaleoPro_settings.gdb)

If you make changes to this table, click the Save button to permanently save the changes to the “Registered_Models” table in PaleoPro_settings.gdb.

Convert PaleoGIS Models to PaleoPro Format

PaleoPro contains a tool for converting PaleoGIS plate models to PaleoPro format. One drawback to this tool is that it does not convert symbology (for plate model display layers or timeslices) as part of the conversion process. Therefore, if you have access to PaleoGIS it is recommended that you use the PaleoPro Model Converter tool available for use in PaleoGIS to perform model conversions, because this tool converts symbology. This tool can be downloaded from the PaleoGIS website under Support > Downloads > PaleoPro (website registration required for access), and instructions for using it can be found here.

To use the PaleoGIS model converter in PaleoPro:

Expand the PaleoGIS Model Converter expander:

Click the folder button to the right of the PaleoGIS Model to be Converted field to browse to and select the PaleoGIS model you want to convert.

The PaleoPro Model Geodatabase Name field will be automatically populated with the name of the PaleoGIS model personal geodatabase with the prefix “Pro_”. You can change this if desired.

Click the folder button to the right of the PaleoPro Model Output Directory field to browse to and select the folder where the converted model will be saved.

Optionally enter a name in the PaleoPro Model Display Name field. This is the name that will be displayed in the Models drop-down menu when the model is registered. If this is left blank, the default drop-down menu name will be the name of the plate model geodatabase from step 3.

Click the Convert button to start the conversion. The conversion could take a while depending on the amount of data contained in the model.

Since the converted model will not contain symbology, plate model display layer and timeslice symbology can be defined for the model using the Symbology and Timeslices tools in the Plate Model Tools ribbon.

Reconstruction

The Reconstruction section of the PaleoPro ribbon provides access to the main PaleoPro functions: Reconstruct and Unreconstruct.

Reconstruction Age

The Age field/drop-down menu is used to set the reconstruction age when you run a reconstruction. Before running a reconstruction you must either type in the numeric age (in Ma) to which you want to reconstruct the map:

or select the desired geologic age from the drop-down menu:

The numeric age range for each geologic age in the menu is shown in parenthesis next to each age name in the list. These names and their associated age ranges are based on the timescale used by the currently loaded model. If you select a geologic age for the reconstruction, the reconstruction will be performed to the age in the middle of the age range. For example, in the image above, the selected geologic age (Burdigalian) will result in a reconstruction to 18.185 Ma. You can set the sort order for the geologic ages by selecting either the Alphabetical or Chronological timescale sort option below the drop-down menu.

Reconstruct

This is the most commonly used function in PaleoPro. It is used to reconstruct data to the geologic age of interest. Note that only one raster layer can be reconstructed at a time, however, any number of vector layers are allowed.

A basic reconstruction workflow is described here. See the sections below for detailed information about reconstructing vector and raster layers.

Basic Reconstruction Workflow

Step 1: Load a Plate Model

The first step in performing a reconstruction is to load a plate model.

Step 2: Add User Data to be Reconstructed

A key feature of PaleoPro is the ability to reconstruct user data back to its paleogeographic locations. To include your data in a reconstruction, simply add the desired data layers to the “Present Day” map, and make sure that the visibility is turned on for those layers. Refer to the Supported Data Types section for more information about the types of data that can be reconstructed in PaleoPro. This example workflow assumes that only vector data is being reconstructed.

Step 3: Run the Reconstruction

You are now ready to start a reconstruction.

Enter or select the reconstruction Age.

To execute the reconstruction, click the Reconstruct button:

PaleoPro will display a progress bar as the user data layers and the plate model layers are reconstructed:

Once the reconstruction is complete, a new map will be created containing the reconstructed layers:

Reconstructing Vector Layers

When vector layers are reconstructed, all features in visible vector layers in the “Present Day” map are reconstructed. Features that didn’t exist at the reconstruction age, as determined by their appearance and disappearance age attributes (more about this below) will not appear in the reconstructed map.

There is a setting available for vector layers where only selected features in the “Present Day” map will be reconstructed (see figure below). This option increases reconstruction performance for large datasets by only reconstructing features of interest. When using this option, if no features are selected in the “Present Day” map, the vector layers will be reconstructed as usual - i.e., all features will be reconstructed.

PaleoPro uses an in-memory data cache to configure and store the vector layers being reconstructed. After you click the Reconstruct button, PaleoPro compares a list of visible vector layers in the “Present Day” map to the list of layers that are already in the data cache. Layers are then added and/or deleted from the cache in order to synchronize the cache with the visible vector layers in the “Present Day” map.

Next, PaleoPro intersects any new layers in the cache with the currently loaded model’s plate polygon layer. This process is often called “cookie cutting” because the intersection process uses the plate polygons like a cookie cutter to cut up the features in the user data layers. As part of the intersection process, attributes from the plate polygons are transferred to the attribute tables of the cached vector layers. The vector layers in the cache are now “coded” with the information (specifically plate code, appearance age, and disappearance age attributes) necessary for PaleoPro to reconstruct the features in those layers back to a given age. Note that your original data is not changed during the intersection process - only the copy of the data in the cache is changed.

Once the caching/intersection is complete, the intersected vector data layers in the cache will be reconstructed. If the currently loaded model supports deformation and deformation is enabled, all vector layers will be deformed in applicable areas when they are reconstructed.

Note: You can manually force the caching and intersection process as described in the Refresh Cache section of this document. This needs to be done after you’ve edited data in the “Present Day” map since PaleoPro reconstructs the layers from the cache, and cache needs to be synchronized with any changes in the map layers.

Reconstructing Raster Layers

Only one raster can be reconstructed at a time in PaleoPro, but a single raster can be reconstructed at the same time as any number of vector layers.

Raster reconstruction is performed by resampling the raster and converting it to in-memory point features and then reconstructing the points to the selected age. Once the reconstruction is complete, the points are converted back to a raster in the reconstruction output. Before the input raster is converted to a point feature class, you are allowed to select the Resampled Resolution for the raster. The resample resolution is the raster cell area as a percentage (from <1% to 100%) of the original cell area, where a higher percentage (smaller cells) will give higher resolution results, while a lower percentage (larger cells) will improve reconstruction performance. Selecting 100% means that the original raster resolution will be used.

To reconstruct a raster:

Add it to the “Present Day” map and make sure its visibility is turned on.

Enter or select a reconstruction Age then click the Reconstruct button. This window will open:

The Post-process raster option uses an interpolation algorithm to eliminate null values in the reconstructed raster. This option produces more aesthetically pleasing results, but it also increases the reconstruction time.

The Cache to disk option causes the resampled raster to be cached in a folder (“RasterPixelBlocks”) in the PaleoPro output directory rather than in memory. The benefit of using this option is that it eliminates the risk of getting an out-of-memory error when reconstructing large rasters, however, performance is slightly slower than when caching in memory. If you change this option after a raster has been resampled and cache, the resampling and caching will have to be redone for the new caching location (i.e., either disk or memory).

Set the Resampled Resolution for the raster. The Resampled Resolution slider will be automatically set to the maximum resolution that can be handled by the memory available on your computer (normally 100%, but it may be lower for very large rasters), but if a different resolution is desired, use the slider to change the percentage. Alternatively, you can enter a numeric percent value in the field to the right of the slider. You are allowed to enter values lower than 1 (e.g., 0.5), which is useful for very large or high resolution rasters. The resampled cell size will be displayed below the slider. Using a lower resolution will improve the reconstruction performance, so it is best to start with a low resolution to determine if the reconstruction results are adequate for your needs. If you are not using the Cache to disk option, setting the resolution higher than the initial automatically set value is not recommended as doing so can cause your computer to run out of memory.

Click the Continue button to start the reconstruction.

Once the reconstruction is complete, the resampled present day raster that was just reconstructed will be retained (cached) either on disk or in memory, depending whether or not you are using the Cache to disk option. Caching the resampled raster improves reconstruction performance for subsequent reconstructions of that raster. Note that only the last raster reconstructed will be cached, so if you reconstruct a different raster, it will replace the previous raster on disk or in memory.

During the next reconstruction of the most recently reconstructed raster, the Resampled Resolution will be set to the value that you previously selected for this raster (in this example 40%) and a green “Cached” label will show over the resolution field indicating that this is the resolution of the cached raster:

If you want to use the cached raster, click the Continue button to start the reconstruction. Otherwise, you can change the Resampled Resolution of the raster before continuing with the reconstruction, and the raster will be resampled and cached with newly selected resolution. If you decide you want to use the cached raster after changing the resolution, you can revert to using the cached raster by either checking the Use cached raster option or by moving the slider back to the cached resolution or entering the cached resolution in the resolution field. The green “Cached” label above the field will then reappear indicating that the cached raster will be used.

Supported Data Types

PaleoPro supports the reconstruction of point, polyline and polygon vector data in shapefile and file geodatabase formats. Vector data can be in any projection or coordinate system.

PaleoPro can also reconstruct rasters (single- and multi-band) in grid, .jpg, .gif, .img, .png, .jp2, .tif, .bmp, and file geodatabase formats.

Timeslices

Some plate models include pre-reconstructed data layers called “timeslices” that can add valuable information to your reconstructions. PaleoPro automatically adds these timeslices to reconstructions if they are available for the selected reconstruction age and timeslices are enabled.

If the currently loaded plate model contains timeslices and timeslices are enabled, ages that have corresponding timeslices in the model will be bolded in the Age drop-down menu:

In the example above, the model contains timeslices for the Zanclean or Lutetian ages. Therefore, timeslices will be added to the reconstructed map if either of these ages are selected from the drop-down menu or if a numeric age that corresponds to one of these geologic ages is entered in the Age field.

Unreconstruct

Unreconstruct provides the ability to do a “reverse” reconstruction on vector or raster data in a reconstructed map, which moves the data from its paleogeographic position to present day coordinates. This tool is only available when the map for the last performed reconstruction is activated.

Unreconstruction workflow:

Run a reconstruction to the age of interest.

Click the Unreconstruct button to open the Unreconstruction dockpane. All vector and raster layers that are in the reconstructed map will appear in the Select layers to unreconstruct list.

Add any additional vector or raster layers that you want to unreconstruct to the reconstructed map. This data can be existing data that corresponds to the reconstruction age, or it can be a new layer that you might have created based on reconstructed features in the reconstructed map. Layers that you add to the map will automatically be added to the Select layers to unreconstruct list. In this example, “My_Points'' and “GDE'' have been added to the map:

In the Select layers to unreconstruct list, select the layers that you want to unreconstruct. Note that only one raster layer can be unreconstructed at a time, however, any number of vector layers can be simultaneously unreconstructed. After you have selected one or more layers in the list, the Run Unreconstruction button will be enabled:

Click the Run Unreconstruction button to start the unreconstruction process, which includes intersecting (“cookie-cutting”) the layers being unreconstructed with the reconstructed plate polygon layer before moving the data to its present day locations. Any layers that were reconstructed during the original reconstruction (i.e., layers in the list that end with the reconstruction age, such as “Plates_Demo_2019_120Ma”), will have already been cookie-cut as part of the reconstruction process, so they will not need to be re-intersected if they are unreconstructed.

When the unreconstruction process is complete, the unreconstructed layers will be added to the top of the “Present Day” map with the suffix “_UR” added to their names and the “Present Day” map will be automatically activated:

Note: It is possible to add features directly to a reconstructed layer in the reconstructed map, and then unreconstruct the edited layer. However, since the reconstructed layer will already contain plate code, appearance, disappearance attribute fields that were added during the cookie-cutting process in the original reconstruction, you must manually populate these attribute values for the newly added features in order for them to properly unreconstruct since the layer will not be re-intersected when it is unreconstructed.

Save Reconstruction

The Save Reconstruction button allows you to save reconstructed and unreconstructed data to a new directory. Until the data is saved, the reconstruction/unreconstruction results will only be stored in the PaleoPro output directory and they risk being deleted if the output directory is emptied.

Only reconstructed data (vector and raster) in the reconstructed map will be saved - timeslice layers and other data layers added to the map post-reconstruction will not be saved. However, if layers were added to the map and then unreconstructed, the unreconstructed results will also be saved.

The Save Reconstruction button is only enabled when a reconstructed map is active.

Save reconstruction workflow:

Activate the reconstructed map you wish to save.

Click the Save Reconstruction button, which will open this window:

The Name field contains the name that will be given to the saved reconstruction. This field will contain an auto-generated name, but you can change this if desired.

Click the folder button to the right of the Output Directory field to browse to and select a directory where the reconstruction will be saved. Once you have done this, the Continue button will be enabled.

When saving a reconstruction, you have an option to change the data source for the layers in the reconstructed map to point to the saved data. This way if you edit data in the map after saving the reconstruction, the changes will be made to the saved data, not to the data in the PaleoPro output directory. To switch the map data sources, select the Switch map layer sources to saved data option. Note that this only changes the data source for layers in the reconstructed map. Unreconstructed layers in the “Present Day” map will still point to the data in the PaleoPro output directory.

Click the Continue button. A folder with the name from the Name field will be created in the selected directory, and within this folder, a file geodatabase and another folder will be created. This sub-folder and the file geodatabase will also have the name from the Name field. Reconstructed/unreconstructed vector data will be saved in the file geodatabase, and layer files (.lyrx) for this data containing the symbology from the reconstructed map will be saved in the sub-folder. Reconstructed/unreconstructed raster data and their layer files will also be saved in the sub-folder.

Animations

The Animation section of the PaleoPro ribbon provides access to tools for creating and viewing plate tectonic animations.

Create Animation

The Create Animation tool creates animations of plate movement over time by performing a series of reconstructions at specified time intervals over a specified time range, and then exporting the reconstructions as a series of JPEG or GIF images.

Animation workflow:

Load a plate model.

Add any data layers to the “Present Day” map that you want to include in the animation.

In the “Present Day” map, zoom into the area on the map that you want to see in the animation. Only the area that is visible in the map window will appear in the animation.

Click on the Create Animation button to open the Animation dockpane:

The Name field will contain an auto-generated name. You can change this if desired.

The default animation output location is the PaleoPro output directory. If you want to change this, click on the folder button to the right of the Output Directory field and browse to and select the directory where you want the animation to be saved.

Set the animation Age Range: for both the Start Age and End Age enter a numeric age in Ma or select a geologic age from the drop-down menu.

Set the length of time between animation frames in the Step Ages area. There are two options depending on the model being used:

Even Intervals - Enter the desired step size in millions of years

Timeslice Ages - This option is only available if the currently loaded model contains timeslices and timeslices are enabled. When this option is selected, only ages between the Start Age and End Age that have timeslices associated with them will be included in the animation, so the step interval between frames will vary.

The Output Format option (GIF or JPEG) determines the image file format that will be used for the output animation frames. If the GIF option is chosen, once the animation is completed you will have the option of saving it as an animated GIF file.

The Close map after each reconstruction option automatically closes each reconstructed map when the reconstructed map for the next animation frame is created. If this option is not selected, all of the reconstructed maps for the animation will remain open and depending on the number frames in your animation, this could be a very large number of maps.

If you are using a plate model that contains timeslices and you want to include the timeslices in your animation, select the Include timeslice layers in animation option. This option is only available if the currently loaded model contains timeslices and timeslices are enabled. This option is automatically selected if the Timeslice Ages option is selected for the animation Step Ages.

Each output image file in the specified output folder will be numbered starting with the value in the File counter start value field. Enter the desired start number if a value other than 0000 (the default) is required. Being able to set the start value allows animation output frames from multiple animations to be more easily combined into longer animations.

If you would like to include an Instantaneous Motion analysis in each animation frame, expand the Instantaneous Motion in Animation expander and check the Add Instantaneous Motion to each frame checkbox. This option operates exactly the same as the Instantaneous Motion tool.

Note: For animations it is recommended that Whole Map is selected for the Analysis Area even if you are zoomed into a small area of the map for the animation.

Click the Create Animation button. The reconstructions for the animation frames will begin. As each reconstruction is completed, the animation frame created from the reconstruction will be automatically saved in the selected format (GIF or JPEG) in a folder with the name and path specified in steps 5 and 6, respectively.

When all of the reconstructions are done the animation will open in a separate window where you can watch the animation:

There are a number of options available in the viewer window to change the animation direction, speed, and looping. You can change the size of the window by dragging the edges or double clicking in the top margin to maximize the window size.

If you selected GIF as the output format for the animation, one of the available controls will be the Save as Animated GIF button. Clicking this button allows you to save the animation as an animated GIF at a specified location. The saved animated GIF will have the same properties (i.e, direction, speed, looping) as the animation in the animation window.

View Existing Animation

To view a previously created animation, click the View Existing Animation button and browse to and select the animation’s output folder in the browse window that opens. The animation will then open in the animation viewer window.

Analysis Tools

The Analysis Tools section of the PaleoPro ribbon provides access to functionality for analysis and visualization of plate tectonic reconstructions.

Fixed Plate

The Fixed Plate tool is used to set the reconstruction reference frame to a selected plate. The result is that the selected plate will not move from its present day position (i.e., it will be “fixed” in place) while all other plates move relative to the selected plate’s position. When there is no fixed plate selected the reference plate is 0, and all plates in the reconstruction will move relative to the model’s global reference frame.

There are two different methods for selecting a fixed plate: 1) clicking on the plate in the “Present Day” map, or 2) selecting the plate from a list.

At any time you can find out which plate is fixed (if any), by hovering the mouse cursor over the Fixed Plate button, which will display a tooltip showing the current reference plate.

Note: When a fixed plate is set, the paleo latitude and longitude values in reconstructions will not be valid since the reference frame is no longer the Earth’s spin axis reference frame.

Set Fixed Plate By Clicking on Map

This method can only be used when the “Present Day” map is activated.

Click on the Fixed Plate button. The mouse cursor will change to a cross shape.

Click on the desired reference plate (i.e., the plate to be fixed) in the map. The selected plate will flash and will be set as the fixed plate.

Select Fixed Plate From List

This method can be used when either the “Present Day” or a reconstructed map is activated.

Click on the small arrow on the lower right hand corner of the Fixed Plate button. Two options will appear.

Click on the Select Fixed Plate From List option. This window will open:

By default, the selected value will be “0” (i.e., no fixed plate), however, if there is already a fixed plate set, the plate code for this plate will be selected in the drop-down menu.

Select the desired reference plate from the drop-down menu and then click the OK button.

Clear Fixed Plate

To reset the reference frame to the Earth’s spin axis (reference plate = 0):

Click on the small arrow on the lower right hand corner of the Fixed Plate button. Two options will appear.

Click on the Clear Fixed Plate option. The reference frame will now be set to the Earth’s spin axis (reference plate = 0) and there will no longer be a fixed plate.

Drone View

The Drone View tool allows the user to select a point (the drone view “hover point”) on a plate, after which the view in reconstruction and animation maps will be a stationary position over the point as the plate moves through time. This tool is only enabled when the “Present Day” map is activated.

Note: When a drone hover point has been set, you can find out the coordinates of the point by hovering the mouse cursor over the Drone View button to display a tooltip showing the coordinates.

Setting a Drone View Hover Point

To set a drone view hover point:

Click on the Drone View button. The mouse cursor will change to a cross shape.

Click the point on the map where you want to “hover”. A red star will flash on the map at the clicked point:

The view in reconstruction/animation maps will now maintain a stationary position over the clicked point and the visible extent around the point will also be maintained in the reconstructions. This is illustrated in this sequence of reconstructions based on the hover point clicked in the image above:

Turning Drone View Off

To remove the drone view hover point so that reconstructions and animations will revert to retaining the extent and global viewpoint of the “Present Day” map (default PaleoPro operation), click on the small arrow on the lower right hand corner of the Drone View button and then click on the Remove Drone View option that appears.

Point Path Visualization

This tool operates on the “Present Day” map, so this tool is only enabled when the “Present Day” map is activated.

The Point Path Visualization tool calculates the speed and direction of movement for a selected point over a specified time range at specified step intervals.

This tool is useful for evaluating the paleo latitude and longitude of a point over time. If there is a fixed plate set when the tool is run, the output will show the motion of the point relative to the fixed plate instead of relative to the “spin axis” reference frame, which is useful for validating plate motion relative to ocean transform faults. However, it is important to note that the paleo coordinates generated by this tool are only valid if the tool is run without a fixed plate.

To run the Point Path Visualization tool:

Activate the “Present Day” map.

Click the Point Path Visualization button to open the Point Path Visualization dockpane. The mouse cursor will change to a cross shape.

Click on the desired analysis point on the map. A red star will appear on the clicked point on the map. The Latitude and Longitude fields in the dockpane will be populated with the coordinates of the clicked point and the Plate field will be populated with the plate code for the plate containing the point.

Alternatively, you can manually enter the coordinates for the desired point in the Latitude and Longitude fields, and a star will be added to that location on the map and the Plate field will be populated based on the entered coordinates.

If a fixed plate has been set, the plate code of the fixed plate will be indicated in the Fixed Plate field. If there isn’t a fixed plate, this field value will be “0”. While the Point Path Visualization dockpane is open, if you set a fixed plate the Fixed Plate field will automatically be updated with the selected plate.

Enter the desired Start Age and End Age in Ma for the analysis.

In the Step Interval field, enter the interval in millions of years for the analysis steps.

The Calculate using half rates option can be used to show the speed and direction of movement of the point of interest relative to a mid-ocean spreading ridge, rather than relative to the earth’s spin axis or another plate. For proper use of this option, a fixed plate should first be set to be the plate with the conjugate margin moving in the opposite direction from the spreading ridge relative to the plate containing the point selected for this analysis. For example, if the point being analyzed is in South America, then to use Calculate using half rates to show the movement of the point relative to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Africa should be set as the fixed plate since South America is moving away from the spreading ridge at half the rate that it is moving away from Africa.

The Show results table when finished option opens a table when the analysis is done that gives the starting/end latitude and longitude, direction and rate of motion for each interval in the analysis. This table can be easily exported for later use by selecting the Export option in the “hamburger” button menu on the top right of the table.

Click the Start button to start the analysis.

When the analysis is complete the results will be displayed as:

A line layer on the map showing the path of the point over the specified time period, where the thickness of each line segment represents the speed (in cm/yr) at which the point was moving in that step interval and number labels on the line represent the ages of each segment in Ma:

A window showing graphs of the speed (rate) and direction (azimuth) of motion for the point during each step interval over the specified time period:

The Save button in the graph window allows you to save the graphs as a .png image.

Instantaneous Motion

This tool operates on the most recently reconstructed map, and the tool is only enabled when the map for the most recently performed reconstruction is activated.

The Instantaneous Motion tool draws a regularly-spaced grid of arrows on a reconstructed map to show the speed and direction of motion for the location under each arrow at that time. This analysis can be used to illustrate the "instantaneous" stresses affecting the various plates. By comparing the motion between plates, the relative plate interactions can be inferred (colliding, diverging, translation, trans-tension, and/or transpression).

The Instantaneous Motion tool operates by generating an in memory global grid of points with user-defined spacing and assigning plate codes to the points based on their present day locations. The points are then reconstructed to the age of the reconstructed map, followed by a reconstruction to a slightly older age based upon a user-defined age delta. The positions of corresponding points from the two reconstructions are then compared and the results are used to create a map layer of arrows that indicate the direction and relative speed of movement for each point at that moment in time.

To run the Instantaneous Motion tool:

Perform a reconstruction to the desired age.

Click the Instantaneous Motion button to open the Instantaneous Motion dockpane:

If you want a Grid increment that is different than the default (4 degrees), enter the value or use the up/down arrows to change the grid spacing.

If you want a Reconstruction Age Delta that is different than the default (100,000 years), enter the value (in Ma) or use the up/down arrows to change the delta.

In the Analysis Area section, select either Whole Map or Area of Interest as the map area for the analysis to evaluate. If Area of Interest is selected, only the part of the map that is currently visible will be evaluated, i.e., if you are zoomed-in to a region on the map, only that region will be considered in the analysis. This can speed up processing if you are using a very detailed plate model and you are only interested in the results for a small area.

Click the Start button to start the analysis.

When the analysis is complete the results will be added to the map as a point layer with each point symbolized as an arrow (see image below). The direction of each arrow indicates that point’s direction of motion at the reconstruction age, and the size of the arrow indicates its relative speed. The calculated speed (in cm/yr) is shown above each arrow on the map.

Viewing Reconstructions on a Globe

To view reconstructions on a globe, you can either use the PaleoPro Globe Spin too or you can convert the map to an ArcGIS Pro global scene.

Globe Spin

The Globe Spin tool changes the map projection to an orthographic (spherical) projection. The globe can then be clicked on to re-center it on the clicked point. This tool works on both the “Present Day” map and reconstructed maps.

Globe Spin is useful if you want to perform reconstructions or animations on a globe instead of a flat map. Before running your reconstructions/animations, use the Globe Spin tool on the “Present Day” map to convert it to a globe and rotate it to the desired position. You can also set a Fixed Plate on the globe to keep your plate of interest on the visible side of the globe in reconstructions/animations.

To use Globe Spin:

Click on the Globe Spin button. The map projection will change to an orthographic (spherical) projection and the mouse cursor will change to a cross shape.

Click on the desired point on the globe and the globe will rotate to be centered on the clicked point.

Revert Projection

To revert from Globe Spin back to the map’s previous projection, click on the small arrow on the lower right hand corner of the Globe Spin button and then click on the Revert Projection option that appears.

ArcGIS Pro Global Scene

To view your map as an ArcGIS Pro global scene

Click the ArcGIS Pro View tab, then click the Convert button and select To Global Scene.

A new map will open showing your layers on a globe in space, which can be rotated and zoomed in/out.

Tool Extensions

The PaleoPro Tool Extensions window provides access to various PaleoPro tools and also provides the ability to add custom tools to existing PaleoPro installations. This version of PaleoPro contains four tools that can be accessed from this window: GPlates Model Importer, Model Validator, Slider Content Creator, and Timeslice Importer.

To access the tool extensions, in the Analysis Tools section of the PaleoPro ribbon, click the small button in the lower right corner to open the PaleoPro Tool Extensions window.

Next select the desired tool from the drop-down menu in the window and then click the Start button to open the tool. The instructions for using each tool can be accessed by clicking the ? button in the tool’s window:

Maintenance

The Maintenance section of the PaleoPro ribbon provides access to PaleoPro caching and output directory cleanup functions.

Refreshing The Cache

When you edit vector layers in the “Present Day” map, the cached data which is used for reconstructions will not be automatically updated with the changes; therefore, it is important to refresh the cache after making edits to make sure that the cache is up-to-date, otherwise the edits will not appear in your reconstructions.

When the cache is refreshed, vector layers in the “Present Day” map are copied to the cache and then the copied data is intersected (“cookie cut”) with the plate model plate polygon layer. Your original data is not changed during the intersection process - only the copy of the data in the cache is changed.

The refresh cache tools are only enabled when the “Present Day” map is activated.

Refresh Cache: All Layers

The Refresh Cache: All Layers tool refreshes the cached data for all visible vector layers in the “Present Day” map.

To refresh all layers in the cache:

Activate the “Present Day” map and make sure the visibility is turned on for all layers in the map that need to be refreshed.

Click the Refresh Cache: All Layers button. PaleoPro will copy all visible data layers in the “Present Day” map to the cache and “cookie cut” them.

When the refresh process is finished, a “Refresh cache complete” message will be displayed.

Refresh Cache: Selected Layers

The Refresh Cache: Selected Layers tool refreshes the cached data for all selected vector layers in the “Present Day” map.

To refresh selected layers in the cache:

Activate the “Present Day” map.

In the map Contents pane, select one or more layers in the “Present Day” map to be refreshed. To select multiple layers, hold down the keyboard Ctrl key while clicking on the layer names.

Click on the small arrow on the lower right hand corner of the Refresh Cache: All Layers button and then click on the Refresh Cache: Selected Layers option that appears. PaleoPro will copy all the selected layers in the “Present Day” map to the cache and “cookie cut” them.

When the refresh process is finished, a “Refresh cache complete” message will be displayed.

Empty Output Directory

The Empty Output Directory tool deletes all data out of the PaleoPro Output Directory. It is useful to empty the output directory every so often so that it does not grow too large. Alternatively, you can select the Empty Output Directory on Startup option in the PaleoPro settings to delete the contents of the output directory each time a PaleoPro session is started.

IMPORTANT: Before using this tool, be sure to save any reconstructions/animations that you want to keep either by using Save Reconstruction or by manually copying the files out of the output directory.

To empty the output directory:

Click on the Empty Output Directory button. A window will open asking if you want to continue.

Click OK to proceed. All files in the output directory will be deleted except for any files that are currently locked by ArcGIS Pro.

When the process is finished, a message saying “The output directory has been emptied” will be displayed.

Plate Model Tools

The Plate Model Tools ribbon contains tools for editing, analyzing, and customizing plate models.

Editing Tools

The Find/Enter Pole, Drag and Drop and Spin and Drop tools allow you to visually edit poles of rotation. Find/Enter Pole allows you to enter a new pole and then shows you the resulting plate location, while Drag and Drop and Spin and Drop allow you to manually move plates in the map, after which PaleoPro calculates new poles based on the new position of the plates. These tools can only be used in the map for the most recently performed reconstruction.

When using these tools, the newly calculated or entered poles will not be saved in the main rotation table (ROTATION_TABLE_1) in the model. Instead, they will be saved in the rotation table with the highest suffix number, e.g., if the model contains two rotation tables, ROTATION_TABLE_1 and ROTATION_TABLE_2, the new poles will be saved in ROTATION_TABLE_2. This keeps your main rotation table in its original state in case you need to revert to those poles. Another “safety” option to consider before editing the model is to make a copy of the entire plate model file as a backup in case your changes don’t go as planned.

If the model you are editing contains only one rotation table, the first time you save any edits a second rotation table, ROTATION_TABLE_2, called “Rot_Table_2” will automatically be added to the model and the edits will be saved to this table.

Pole Edit Table

When performing plate model edits using the Find/Enter Pole, Drag and Drop and Spin and Drop tools, the Edit Table will automatically open and it will contain all the poles for the plate code(s) being edited, including any newly calculated/entered poles for the current reconstruction age. If you continue to make edits in the current reconstruction, the table will be automatically updated with each edit.

To save the edits, click the Save button at the bottom of the window. All poles in the table including the new poles will be saved to the rotation table indicated at the top of the window.

If during editing you accidentally close the window, you can reopen it by clicking the Open Edit Table button on the Plate Model Tools ribbon.

Unlink Child Plates

When using the Find/Enter Pole, Drag and Drop and Spin and Drop tools, any plates with the plate code of the plate being edited, plus any child plates of those plates, will move in the map based on your input from the editing tools. If you do not want the child plates to move, select the Unlink Child Plates option on the Plate Model Tools ribbon. This option is only available before you start moving plates. Once any plates have been moved, this option will be disabled unless you undo all of your edits or run a new reconstruction.

Note: Selecting the Unlink Child Plates option only provides a different way of visualizing your edits. It does not change how the new poles of rotation are calculated for each move, and in subsequent reconstructions the child plates will move as usual.

Undo and Redo Edits

You can undo and redo changes made with the Find/Enter Pole, Drag and Drop and Spin and Drop tools using the Undo Edits and Redo Edits buttons on the Plate Model Tools ribbon. The buttons will be enabled/disabled based on whether there are changes that can be undone or redone.

Find/Enter Pole

The Find/Enter Pole tool is used to display the absolute and relative poles of rotation used for a selected plate within the most recently reconstructed map. It also allows you to enter a new absolute or stage pole for the plate code of the selected plate at the current reconstruction age.

To use this tool:

Run a reconstruction to the desired age.

Click the Find/Enter Pole button to open the Find or Enter Pole window:

The mouse cursor will change to a cross shape and the reconstructed plate polygon layer in the map Contents pane will be automatically selected (it will be highlighted in blue). If you want to use this tool on a vector layer other than the plate polygon layer, select the desired layer in the Contents pane.

Click on the plate of interest in the map. The absolute and relative poles for the plate for the current reconstruction age will be displayed in the Find or Enter Pole window:

Note: If you click on overlapping plates in the map, the window below will display. In this case, select the desired plate from the drop-down list.

After a plate has been clicked on, you have the option to manually enter absolute finite or stage poles for that plate. This is useful for implementing precise pole values that have been calculated or obtained from published sources.

After entering an absolute or stage pole in the form, click the respective Enter button.

The selected plate and any other plates with the same plate code, plus any child plates of those plates, will automatically move to their new positions calculated from the entered pole.

The Edit Table will automatically open, and it will contain all the existing poles for the plate code of the selected plate, plus the newly entered pole.

Note: When you enter an absolute pole, PaleoPro automatically recalculates that pole to be relative to the parent plate for the selected plate (as shown in the Relative Pole section of the window) for the current reconstruction age. This recalculated relative pole is the pole that will be shown in the Edit Table. If the pole that you are entering is already relative to the parent plate (i.e., its reference plate is the parent plate, not zero) set the parent plate as the fixed plate in the “Present Day” map, run the reconstruction and then enter the absolute pole. This will prevent PaleoPro from recalculating the pole for a different reference frame.

When you enter a stage pole, the resulting pole in the Edit Table will be the stage pole added to the absolute pole for the selected plate at the current reconstruction age, the result of which is then recalculated to be relative to the parent plate for the selected plate.

If you want to save the new pole, click the Save button on the Edit Table.

Drag and Drop

The Drag and Drop tool is used to linearly offset the position of a selected plate to a new position.

Run a reconstruction to the desired age.

Using the Select Features tool , click on the plate to be moved. The Select Features tool can be accessed on the Plate Model Tools ribbon. When a single feature has been selected, the Drag and Drop tool will be enabled. The tool will not be enabled if multiple features are selected.

Click on the Drag and Drop button. The mouse cursor will change to a cross shape.

On the selected plate, click on the start point for the move. A blue line will be drawn extending from the clicked point to the cursor. Next click on the end point for the move. The start and end points represent the distance and direction of the move. Once you click the end point, the selected plate and any other plates with the same plate code, plus any child plates of those plates, will move to their new positions and the blue line will be removed from the map.

PaleoPro will automatically calculate a new pole of rotation for the new plate position at the current reconstruction age. The Edit Table will automatically open, and it will contain all the existing poles for the plate code of the moved plate, plus the newly calculated pole.

If you want to save the new pole, click the Save button on the Edit Table.

Spin and Drop

The Spin and Drop tool is used to rotate a selected plate into a new position.

Run a reconstruction to the desired age.

Using the Select Features tool , click on the plate to be moved. The Select Features tool can be accessed on the Plate Model Tools ribbon. When a single feature has been selected, the Spin and Drop tool will be enabled. The tool will not be enabled if multiple features are selected.

Click on the Spin and Drop button. The mouse cursor will change to a cross shape.

On the selected plate, click on the start point for the move. A blue line will be drawn extending from the clicked point to the cursor. Next click on the “rotation” point for the move - the plate will rotate around this point to its new position. The blue line will now extend from this point to the cursor. Finally click on the end point for the move. Once you click the end point, the start point on the plate will be rotated around the “rotation” point to the end point. In addition, any other plates with the same plate code, plus any child plates of those plates, will also move to their new positions and the blue lines will be removed from the map.

Note: The “rotation” point is merely a graphical tool that allows you to define the movement of the selected plate to a new position. It does not represent the pole of rotation calculated by PaleoPro.

PaleoPro will automatically calculate a new pole of rotation for the new plate position at the current reconstruction age. The Edit Table will automatically open, and it will contain all the existing poles for the plate code of the moved plate, plus the newly calculated pole.

If you want to save the new pole, click the Save button on the Edit Table.

Other Plate Model Tools

Plate Genealogy

This tool operates on the most recently reconstructed map, and the tool is only enabled when the map for the most recently performed reconstruction is activated.

The Plate Genealogy tool is used to view the sub-plates (i.e. child plates) for a specified plate within a reconstruction map.

To use this tool:

Run a reconstruction to the desired age.

Click on the Plate Genealogy button.

The cursor will change to a cross shape and the reconstructed plate polygon layer in the map Contents pane will be automatically selected (it will be highlighted in blue). If you want to use this tool on a vector layer other than the plate polygon layer, select the desired layer in the Contents pane.

Click on the plate of interest in the map. The clicked plate and every plate with the same plate code, plus any child plates of those plates will be automatically selected (see figure below), and each of these plates will be labeled with a number. The number indicates each plate’s place in the hierarchy – 0 is the parent (i.e., the selected plate and any other plates with the same plate code), 1 is a child, 2 is a grandchild, and so on.

Note: If you click on overlapping plates in the map, the window below will display. In this case, select the desired plate from the drop-down list.

Clear Genealogy

To clear the graphics created by the Plate Genealogy tool and de-selected all features, click on the small arrow on the lower right hand corner of the Plate Genealogy button and then click on the Clear Genealogy option that appears.

Rotation Table Tools

Rotation table tools are provided for performing various operations on the poles of rotation in the rotation tables in the currently loaded plate model. These operations include moving poles between rotation tables, deleting poles and manually editing poles. Also, a tool is provided for creating new rotation tables in the currently loaded model.

Click the Rotation Table button to open the Rotation Table Tools dockpane:

Move Poles Between Rotation Tables

The model must contain at least two rotation tables to be able to move poles. If necessary, you can create a second rotation table using the Create New Rotation Table tool at the bottom of the dockpane.

In the Move Poles section:

Select source and destination rotation tables for the move.

Select the plate code for the poles to be moved. All poles with the selected plate code will be moved.

If desired, select either of these options:

Delete poles from source after move - deletes all poles with the selected plate code from the source table after they are moved to the destination table.

Delete poles from destination table before move - deletes all poles with the selected plate code from the destination table before the poles with this plate code are moved from the source table.

Click the Move Poles button to complete the move.

Delete Poles

In the Delete Poles section:

Select a rotation table to delete from.

Select the plate code for the poles to be deleted. All poles with the selected plate code will be deleted from the selected rotation table.

Click the Delete Poles button to complete the deletion.

Manually Edit Poles

In the Edit Poles section:

Select a rotation table to edit.

Click the Open Table button to open the rotation table window.

If desired, select that plate code for poles you want to edit in the Select plate drop-down menu in order to only show poles for the selected plate in the table.

You can now manually edit the poles in the table. Click the Save button to save changes. Note that the Undo button only works on changes that haven’t been saved.

Create a New Rotation Table

To add a new empty rotation table to the currently loaded model, in the Create New Rotation Table section:

Enter a name for the new table. The name cannot start with a number or contain spaces or special characters.

Click the Create Table button. A new table with the specified name will be created in the plate model and a new ROTATION_TABLE_x setting will be added to the plate model settings for the new table. The “x” in the setting name will be the next higher number after the highest rotation table setting currently in the table. For example, if the current highest rotation table setting is ROTATION_TABLE_2, the new table will be ROTATION_TABLE_3.

Calculators

Three calculator tools are provided for performing calculations commonly used by plate modelers: pole addition, finding a pole for two points, and rotating a point around a pole. Click the Calculators button to open the Calculators dockpane. To use any of the calculators, enter the input values in the white text fields, and then click the Calculate button. The results will be displayed in the gray text fields for the calculator being used.

Plate Model Appearance

Symbology

The Symbology tool allows you to save plate model display layer symbology (i.e., .lyrx files) inside of the plate model geodatabase and to view or delete symbology that was previously saved in the geodatabase. This tool only works for vector layers. This tool is only enabled when a map is open in ArcGIS Pro and a plate model is loaded in PaleoPro.

To get started:

Click the Symbology button to open the Plate Model Symbology dockpane:

By default the Model Geodatabase Path field will be populated with the path to the currently loaded plate model geodatabase. Any display layers in this model that currently have symbology saved in the geodatabase will be listed in the View or Delete Symbology table.

If you wish to modify the symbology for a different model, click on the folder button to the right of the Model Geodatabase Path field and browse to and select the desired model. The View or Delete Symbology table will be updated with display layers in the selected model that currently have saved symbology.

To save symbology:

If it is not already there, add the feature class to be symbolized to the map. The feature class must be contained in the plate model geodatabase.

Change the symbology for the layer in the map as desired.

Select the layer in the Contents pane, and then click the Save Symbology button.

You will receive a warning message that the change you are about to make cannot be undone. Click OK to continue saving the symbology. The save will be finalized and the name of the layer will be added to the View or Delete Symbology table.

To view or delete existing symbology:

Select the layers to be viewed or deleted by selecting the layer names in the View or Delete Symbology table. To select multiple layers in the table, hold down the keyboard Ctrl key while clicking on the names.

To view the selected layers, click the View in Map button to add the symbolized layers to the map.

To delete the symbology for the selected layer(s), click the Delete button. You will receive a warning message that the change you are about to make cannot be undone. Click OK to continue, and the symbology will be deleted. Note that only symbology (.lyrx files) will be deleted - this will not delete the feature classes from the geodatabase.

Timeslice Manager

The Timeslice Manager facilitates incorporating timeslices into plate models by allowing you to make changes to the table which controls when timeslices are added to reconstructions and to save and view timeslice symbology.

To get started:

Click the Timeslice Manager button to open the Timeslice Manager window:

By default the Model Geodatabase Path field will be populated with the path to the currently loaded plate model geodatabase. If this model contains timeslices, they will be listed in the table in the window. If the model does not contain timeslices, the table will be empty.

If you wish to add or modify timeslices for a different model, click on the folder button to the right of the Model Geodatabase Path field and browse to and select the desired model. If the selected model contains timeslices, the table will be updated to reflect this.

Timeslice table field descriptions:

Timeslice Name: The name that will appear in the Contents pane when the timeslice is added to the map.

Young Age: The youngest end of the age bracket (in Ma) for which the timeslice will be added to the map during reconstructions.

Old Age: The oldest end of the age bracket (in Ma) for which the timeslice will be added to the map during reconstructions.

Description: Optional field for information about the timeslice.

Order: An integer value of 1 or greater which sets the timeslice stacking order in the map for reconstructions to the timeslice age range, where 1 is the lowest layer, and all timeslices with higher numbers will be above this layer.

Symbology: Read only field. If there is a red square in this field, symbology has not been saved for the timeslice, and if the square is green, symbology has been saved.

To view existing timeslice symbology:

Select the timeslices to be viewed by selecting their rows in the table. To select multiple rows, hold down the keyboard Ctrl key while clicking on the rows.

To view the selected timeslices, click the View in Map button to add the symbolized timeslices to the map.

To add a new timeslice or to change/delete existing timeslices:

To add a new timeslice, in the empty bottom row of the table, enter the information for the new timeslice:

A red square will automatically be added to the Symbology field, indicating that you still need to save symbology for the timeslice. Note: Until you save symbology for the timeslice the timeslice will not appear in reconstructions.

To make changes to any existing timeslices, make the desired text changes directly in the table.

To delete timeslices, select the rows to be deleted in the table (hold down the keyboard Ctrl key while clicking to select multiple rows), and then use the Delete key on your keyboard to delete the rows.

To save new timeslices, changes and/or deletions, click the Save Table Changes button.

To save timeslice symbology:

Add the timeslice feature class to be symbolized to the map. The feature class must be contained in the plate model geodatabase.

Change the symbology for the layer in the map as desired.

Select the layer in the Contents pane and select the corresponding row in the timeslice table and then click the Save Symbology button.

You will receive a warning message that the change you are about to make cannot be undone. Click OK to continue saving the symbology.

Product Support

For any questions concerning PaleoPro, please contact PaleoPro support at: support@rothwellgroup.com

PaleoPro Application Settings

The table below contains descriptions for all available PaleoPro application settings. The setting values for these settings are stored in the “PaleoPro_settings” table in the PaleoPro settings file geodatabase (PaleoPro_settings.gdb). These settings can be accessed via the Advanced expander in the PaleoPro Settings dockpane or can be accessed directly in PaleoPro_settings.gdb using ArcGIS Pro.

Setting	Value Type*	Description	Notes
ADD_UNIQUE_ID	TRUE/FALSE	When TRUE, adds a “PaleoUniqueId” field to the attribute tables of all layers when they are copied to the cache. This setting is linked to this checkbox.	A
CACHE_PATH	Text	For debugging purposes only. File geodatabase cache location when COPY_CACHE_TO_GDB = True. If this setting is missing or empty, the default path will be: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Rothwell \Cache\cache.gdb Or if a custom root directory has been set: PaleoPro root directory + \Cache\cache.gdb	B
COPY_CACHE_TO_GDB	TRUE/FALSE	For debugging purposes only. When TRUE, copies the contents of the in-memory cache to a file geodatabase at the location specified by the CACHE_PATH setting.	B
DEFORMATION_ENABLED	TRUE/FALSE	When TRUE, deformation is enabled for all vector layers being reconstructed. This setting is linked to this checkbox.	A
EMPTY_OUTPUT_AT_STARTUP	TRUE/FALSE	When TRUE, the contents of the output directory are automatically deleted each time a PaleoPro session is started. This setting is linked to this checkbox.	A
EXTENSION_1 EXTENSION_2 EXTENSION_3 etc…	Text	The EXTENSION settings are used to add extensions to the drop-down menu in the PaleoPro Tool Extensions window. Each EXTENSION setting must have a different number suffix. The actual number isn’t important because the tool names are sorted alphabetically in the drop-down. Value format: Drop-down name\|DLL name* Example: GPlates Model Importer\|GplatesImporter *Do not put the “.dll” extension at the end of the DLL name.	A
HELP_URL	URL	PaleoPro user manual website. Do not change unless instructed to do so.
IGNORE_AGES	TRUE/FALSE	When TRUE, causes reconstructions and animations to ignore the “appearance” and “disappearance” fields in the plate model and user data layers. This setting is linked to this checkbox.	A
KEEP_ZINGERS	TRUE/FALSE	For debugging purposes only. When TRUE, polygons that don’t correctly cross the 180 degree latitude line are left unrepaired, and polyline “_zinger” feature classes (i.e., unrepaired polyline layers) are not deleted from the reconstruction output file geodatabase.	B
LABEL_COLORS	Text	Sets the reconstruction map label background and text colors. The text in this setting consists of 8 comma separated integer numbers. The first 4 numbers are red, green, blue and transparency values for the label background color and the second 4 are the red, green, blue and transparency values for the text color. This setting is linked to the color pickers in the Map Label settings. Default value: 0,0,0,191,255,242,0,255	A
LABEL_POSITION	Text	Sets the position of the reconstruction map label within the map. Value options: BOTTOM,CENTER (default value) BOTTOM, RIGHT BOTTOM, LEFT CENTER, RIGHT CENTER, LEFT TOP, CENTER TOP, RIGHT TOP, LEFT Default value: “Bottom,Center”. If the user changes the label position in the Map Label settings, this setting and the selected value will automatically be added to the settings table.	A
LAST_USED_MODEL	Text	The name of the last plate model loaded, which is saved so it can be automatically loaded when the next PaleoPro session is started.
LEFT_ALIGN_LABEL	TRUE/FALSE	When TRUE, sets the text in the reconstruction map label to be left aligned. When this setting is FALSE, the text in the label will be center aligned. This setting is linked to the Text Alignment option in the Map Label settings.	A
LOG_LEVEL	Text	Sets the logging verbosity. Value options: ERROR - Logs error and warning messages (default value) INFO - Logs errors, warnings, and detailed information messages ALL - Logs the same as INFO, plus additional details for recurring background processes (licensing, etc.)
OUTPUT_DIRECTORY	Text	Path to the directory where all PaleoPro outputs are stored. When PaleoPro is installed, this setting is not in the settings table, and internally PaleoPro defaults to this path for the output directory: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Rothwell\Output Or if a custom root directory has been set: PaleoPro root directory + \Output If the user changes the output directory, this setting and the selected path will automatically be added to the settings table.	B, A
RECONSTRUCT_SELECTED_ONLY	TRUE/FALSE	When TRUE, if there are features selected in the “Present Day” map, only the selected features will be reconstructed. If no features are selected, then all features in the visible layers will be reconstructed. This setting is linked to this checkbox.	A
TIMESCALE_SORT	Text	Timescale sort method in the Age drop-down menu. Value options: ALPHA - Alphabetical sort AGE - Chronological sort (default value)	A
TIMESLICES_ENABLED	TRUE/FALSE	When TRUE, enables timeslice functionality for plate models that contain timeslice layers. This setting is linked to this checkbox.	A
VERSION	Text	The full version number of the installed version of PaleoPro. Do not change.

*The default value for all TRUE/FALSE settings is false.

Value is tied to a GUI control - checkbox, radio button, text field, drop-down menu or color picker. When the GUI control value is changed, the settings table value will be changed accordingly, and vice versa. Links to the corresponding controls are contained in each setting’s description in the table above.
Not in the production settings table, i.e., will not be in standard PaleoPro installations.

PaleoPro Installation and Setup

Basic Installation

This installation method installs the PaleoPro add-in in the default ArcGIS Pro add-in location:

C:\Users\<username>\Documents\ArcGIS\AddIns\ArcGISPro\{a6d4c3dd-18e5-4b2b-b03c-bae87cb53010}

To install PaleoPro:

Close ArcGIS Pro.

Double click on the Add-In file (PaleoPro_for_ArcPro_v3.0.x_v3.0.8349.40592.esriAddinX). This window will open (it may take a few seconds):

Click the Install Add-In button. The window below will appear. Click the OK button.

PaleoPro is now installed and ready to use.

Custom Installation

This installation method allows you to install PaleoPro in the directory of your choice:

Go to the ArcGIS Pro Add-In Manager:

From an open project, click the Project tab on the ribbon. In the list on the left, click Add-In Manager.

From the ArcGIS Pro start page, click Settings in the lower left corner. In the list on the left, click Add-In Manager.

Click the Options tab in the Add-In Manager.

Click the Add Folder… button, then browse to and select the folder where you want the PaleoPro add-in to be located. The path to the selected location will be added to the Search for additional Add-Ins in these folders box:

Put the PaleoPro add-in file in the selected folder on your file system.

PaleoPro is now installed and ready to use.

Custom Root Directory Configuration

PaleoPro automatically creates a folder structure for storing various files that it needs to operate. By default, this structure is located at:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Rothwell

If needed, you can specify a different root directory for the folder structure as follows:

Create a text (.txt) file called “PaleoProConfig.txt”.

Put the desired root directory path in the first line of this file. Do NOT end this path with a backslash (\).

Put the “PaleoProConfig.txt” file in the folder where PaleoPro is installed:

Either the default installation location:

C:\Users\<username>\Documents\ArcGIS\AddIns\ArcGISPro\{a6d4c3dd-18e5-4b2b-b03c-bae87cb53010}

Or the folder path you selected for a custom installation.

Now PaleoPro will create its folder structure at the path indicated in the “PaleoProConfig.txt” file.

Logging

The PaleoPro log file, “PaleoProLog_<date>_<time>.txt”, will be located in one of two possible places. Either the default location:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Rothwell\PaleoPro\Log

Or if a custom root directory has been set:

PaleoPro root directory + \PaleoPro\Log

The type of information contained in the log file is controlled by the LOG_LEVEL application setting.

The Rothwell Group, L.P. www.paleogis.com