Important notes

  • The condition to pass the class is the completion of a homework assigment that depends on the use of GPlates.
  • Your task will be to write a short report (maximum three A4 pages) with illustrations. Use Times New Roman 12pt, with 1.5 spacing or comparable.
  • The due date for the exercise is the last day of the lecturing period (2023-07-21 Fri).
  • The assignmnent will not be graded, but you cannot pass the class if it is not finished.
  • You can also do the assignment in small groups.
  • The assignment can be written in German, but English is also welcome.
  • The link to upload the finished assignment files is on StudOn!

The assignment

  • Write a short report on the history of the tectonic units of Germany using the PaleoMAP model with particular focus on Erlangen!

  • Hint: ESRI shapefiles can also be used in a similar way to points to store polygon information (e.g. boundaries of shapes). These shapefiles include data of Germany at 3 different levels of detail. You can use the Landkreis-level polygons to trace different parts of the country. You can also assign plate IDs to the polygons using the Assign Plate IDs menu item.

Some Ideas

  • Create a series of maps proving that the terranes of Germany were not always together.
  • When did the terranes first connect?
  • Describe the approximate history of the terranes, which super/megacontinents they took part in.
  • Put Erlangen on the PaleoMAP PaleoAtlas map, and show where the city was in Pangean times (e.g. at the Permian/Triassic boundary)?
  • Approximately what was the southernmost paleolatitude that Erlangen was at in the Phanerozoic?