
Show HN: Plot modern addresses on Earth 240M years ago - typpo
http://dinosaurpictures.org/ancient-earth
======
typpo
Hi HN, I built this by adapting GPlates
([https://www.gplates.org](https://www.gplates.org)), an academic project
providing desktop software for geologists to investigate plate tectonic data.
I'm amazed that geologists collected enough data to actually plot my home 750M
years ago, so I thought you all would enjoy it too.

Even though plate tectonic models return precise results, you should consider
the plots approximate (obviously we will never be able to prove correctness).
In my tests I found that model results can vary significantly. I chose this
particular model because it is widely cited and covers the greatest length of
time.

The visualization itself is open source, though I have not yet cleaned up and
pushed the plate tectonics integration (working on that right now):
[https://github.com/typpo/ancient-earth](https://github.com/typpo/ancient-
earth)

~~~
lhorie
I'm curious about the accuracy of the visualization. Specifically, at around
20M yrs, one can clearly see the mediterranean sea. The wikipedia page for the
Zanclean Deluge[1] says it's theorized to have happened around 5M yrs ago.

Does this mean that the data from gplates doesn't support that theory? Or is
that just an artifact of how things were put together for this project?

Nonetheless, cool project!

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclean_flood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclean_flood)

~~~
typpo
This is a good point, and I think we'd have to take it up with Chris Scotese,
the geologist who produced the rasters I wrap around the globe[1]. There are
some details in the PDF included in the download, which explains some
coloration choices based on elevation (search for "paleocoastline")[2].

That said, I think there is artistic license taken, and the wet Mediterranean
might be an oversight or even a statement by the artist (I've gotten emails
from angry geologists because the globe does not advance one theory or
another). Part of Scotese's work also predates some of the research on this
topic.

It would certainly be more accurate to show a simple plate diagram rather than
an artistic version of the Earth, and it would make my life easier too because
then I could show continuous plate movement for each year. But there is a
certain thrill in seeing ancient earth all globe-like, so I stand by my choice
to use these rasters :)

[1] [https://www.earthbyte.org/paleomap-paleoatlas-for-
gplates/](https://www.earthbyte.org/paleomap-paleoatlas-for-gplates/)

[2]
[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-q0WIa7ofISFHyBe4UxvN8DIPs...](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-q0WIa7ofISFHyBe4UxvN8DIPs82SPmS)

------
Somasis
I felt so silly trying to zoom in and see satellite images of my house as it
was 240M years ago.

~~~
broken_symlink
I was hoping that if I zoomed in enough I'd get a 3d street view of a bunch of
dinosaurs walking around. I was disappointed.

~~~
harshulpandav
Could be possible if a 4 light year wide telescope is sent via a worm hole to
one of the galaxies in the Virgo cluster (65m light years away) and live
imagery of Earth (not via worm hole) is sent back via the worm hole to Earth.

~~~
csomar
Not needed. Once we can determine the starting composition of the universe,
and have enough quantum computing power, we'll be able to simulate the past...
and the future too. So you can see what your home looked like in the past and
what it'll look like in the future.

~~~
shrikrishna
Maybe, maybe not. We do not yet know that our Universe is a closed system

------
elliottcarlson
I would love to see what a potential future Earth would look like, and where I
currently stand will be

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLahVJNnoZ4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLahVJNnoZ4)
is pretty cool

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derriz
As a child I was fascinated by the idea that the cliffs of Moher
([https://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/about-the-
cliffs/geology/](https://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/about-the-cliffs/geology/))
stood at the mouth of a massive ancient river but I've never found a picture
of the earth in the geological past which showed such a river.

Nor does this model. Anyone know enough about geology to explain why? Is it
because rivers are not represented at all?

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drmeister
Cool! But the model of earth appears to experience gimbal lock - use
quaternions for rotations.

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rohan1024
So the land that I stand on today, India, was once part of Africa and
America's landmass. Crazy!

~~~
blocked_again
Yeah. Madagascar was closer to Kerala than Delhi. Blew my mind!

------
spullara
I love that you can rotate the globe around and there is a position where you
can only see water.

[https://www.dropbox.com/s/a0s75tyqtoh0hrd/Screenshot%202018-...](https://www.dropbox.com/s/a0s75tyqtoh0hrd/Screenshot%202018-06-11%2013.41.43.png?dl=0)

~~~
perkee
That's almost still true if you turn a globe to show the pacific.

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hexane360
One thing: At 540 My ago, you misspell "Cambrian Explosion" as "Cabrian
Explosion"

~~~
SlowRobotAhead
It was a long time ago, we don't exactly know what exploded.

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amelius
Can we extrapolate this into the future?

Update: found this video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLahVJNnoZ4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLahVJNnoZ4)

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Trufa
Wow! This gave me a whole new perspective on the Uruguayan coast, it's so cool
to know that what I am seeing latched off the Antarctic peninsula!!! Specially
since it so recognisable. Just a nice piece of trivia, but awesome for me.

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dewiz
Is there data telling how deep the oceans and tall the mountains were during
those eras?

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Aardwolf
Fascinating! I tried to see how the Alps form but it's quite a complex process

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benatkin
The difference between 260M and 240M in the Western US is really big. My
hometown, Flagstaff, Arizona, goes from being near the ocean to being hundreds
of miles away from the ocean, like it is now.

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Paperweight
Some explanation of what's going on in NA:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurentia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurentia)

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vadym909
Great. Suggestion-

1\. Can you add the number of years ago (eg. 100,000, 1M, 20M, 200M) next to
the periods in the dropdown for those not familiar with it.

2\. Can you simulate the changes automatically so it evolves?

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drtillberg
The Americas look like the 'old world' in this model, to my surprise, except
Mexico looks new. Asia could use better lighting on the marble.

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firasd
Nice work! I feel like it can provide some perspective about things like
nationalism, etc. Like a minor version of the 'overview effect'.

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linker3000
Very hard to steer on a cell phone (Android, Brave browser) - pinch zoom kept
flying me into the Cosmos.

Like the idea though - will try later from desktop.

~~~
y4mi
Xiaomi redmi 5 plus with brave browser as well works fine though..

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anonymfus
Do you plan to extend it to show the future?

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kowdermeister
It's really great to play with the million years selector and the up/down
arrow.

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baxtr
Really like it! Especially the short explanation of the age is quite educating

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adammenges
This is awesome, nice job!

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vatotemking
Does that mean that an ocean that big could produce super hurricanes?

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isostatic
Be good to be able to turn off current country outlines

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nedsma
Thanks, I learned so much from this.

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justkd
Pretty awesome. Thanks!

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oka0527
Japan

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rajeshpant
why show modern borders for 240M old earth?

~~~
Kiro
That's the whole point of it. I don't understand your question.

