CAPTION - Paragon Models

Dynamic Model of an Oceanc Plate with 3-D Faults.

This animation shows a set of model which we did with Shijie Zhong (now Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado) in which we simulated the evolution of an oceanic plate in three dimensions. The unique aspect of this set of models was the use of three-dimensional faults. The models had a strong temperature and non Newtonian viscosity. More details on these models, including other animations can be found at. We used the 256 Processor Intel Paragon Supercomputer (now retired from service) which was operated by the Caltech Center for Advanced Computer Research (CACR)

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Reference

Although we never published these models, some aspects of our computational method used on the Intel Paragon can be found here: Zhong, S., Gurnis, M., and Moresi, L., The role of faults, nonlinear rheology, and viscosity structure in generating plates from instantaneous mantle flow models, Journal of Geophysical Research 103, 15,255-15,268, 1998.

Additional references of related material can be found here.

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