tectoplot

Github Links

https://github.com/kyleedwardbradley/tectoplot - the main program, with installation notes

https://github.com/kyleedwardbradley/tectoplot-examples - example commands and outputs

Overview

tectoplot is a command-line program that produces publication-quality maps and figures quickly and easily, drawing from a wide range of data relevant to seismotectonics (and many other disciplines). This program occupies the space between standard GIS tools, which are interactive but limited in the quality and type of figures that can be produced, and GMT, a powerful set of programs for manipulating and visualizing data in a scripting environment. tectoplot tries to hit a sweet spot between these tools by making programmatic figures while avoiding any scripting; even very complex maps can be generated with a single command.


tectoplot is open source, is built on open source packages (GMT, gdal, geod, and standard Unix commands), and can run natively on OSX or Linux, or on Windows using WSL. It is distributed under a 3-clause BSD license. If you find tectoplot useful, please drop me a quick email so I can better understand how it is being used.

Public outreach with tectoplot

At the Earth Observatory of Singapore, we use tectoplot for rapid event analysis and response, primarily after large earthquakes. Within minutes of receiving a notification, we can create a detailed map and quantitative cross section of the affected area. The output PDFs can be cleaned up in Adobe Illustrator and published within an hour. These data-rich figures differ significantly from the conceptual cartoons that are often the basis for science communication about earthquakes.


Check out ASE Asst. Prof. Judith Hubbard's Twitter feed (@JudithGeology) for other examples of how tectoplot can enable outreach. She also has a web page with a large number of tectoplot maps.


If you are interested in using tectoplot to make these kinds of public-outreach diagrams, please contact me and I can give you some pointers on building an efficient workflow!

Teaching with tectoplot

tectoplot forms the basis for my Global Tectonics course for upper-level geoscience students at ASE. This is an exploration-focused class, where students adopt a tectonic region and learn how to visualize and analyze many different types of data. They gain important technical skills (including the basics of working in a Unix command line environment) while creating a portfolio of maps and figures that illustrate their growing understanding of global tectonic processes. This exploratory approach mirrors the way plate tectonics was discovered - by synthesis of many types of data - and contrasts with the usual teaching approach of weekly 100-slide lectures filled with diagrams from textbooks and published papers.

What can tectoplot do?

Seismicity and focal mechanisms

  • Import custom catalogs

  • Catalog functions: Homogenize magnitudes, cull equivalent earthquakes using catalog priority and a time-space-magnitude window

  • Calculate all focal mechanism-related parameters as necessary: Moment tensor, nodal plane strike-rake-dip, principal axes, slip vector azimuths

  • Plot centroid or origin locations and alternative locations

  • B-value analysis, Kostrov summation, declustering (Reasenberg, Gardner-Knopoff)

Select data in many ways

  • Select by time, depth, magnitude ranges

  • Custom polygon AOI (KML or XY format)

  • Select by proximity to Slab2.0 surface

  • Select data by Flinn-Engdahl geographic or seismic regions

Highly customizable topography visualizations

    • Hillshade / multi-hillshade / slope / terrain ruggedness index

    • Texture shading (Leland Brown)

    • Sky view factor

    • Cast shadows

    • Gamma correction / percent clip correction

    • RGB image fusion

    • Sentinel cloud-free imagery / Blue Marble

    • DEM extraction and tiling for rapid re-analysis or use in other programs

    • Event labeling based on ID, date, magnitude

Data management and attribution

    • All data are attributed, original data is archived before use, and intermediate steps are clearly recorded.

    • Output files can be uploaded to an online repository for easy

    • Automatic legend creation for supported data types


Plate motion models

    • MORVELNNR-56, PB2003, GSRM, tdefnode, and custom models

    • Plot plate motion vectors, plate velocity relative to any fixed plate

    • Calculate and plot plate boundary kinematics

    • Plot Euler poles and predicted velocities at points or on a grid

    • Fibonacci spiral grid, or regular lon/lat grid

Earthquake coseismic slip models

    • Query SRCMOD database for events or plot your own data

    • Plot slip distributions, with or without clipping polygon

Highly flexible profiling

    • Profile command file for complex profiles

    • Automated profiling tools for rapid analysis

    • Profile horizontal and vertical alignment to an XY crossing line

    • Oblique perspective profiles can be quickly adjusted

    • Multi-segment profiles can have across profile-along profile coordinates to avoid kink artifacts

Swath profiles

    • Calculate and plots 0/25/50/75/100 percentiles of gridded data

    • Data ranges are saved in a plain text file


Download and visualize a variety of geophysical datasets

    • Slab2.0

    • Gravity (WGM2012, Sandwell 2019)

    • EMAG_V2 crustal magnetization

    • Curie depth (GCDM)

    • EarthByte plate features (ridges, transforms, magmatic provinces, isochrons)

    • Ocean crust age

    • Global heatflow

    • World Stress Map

    • Global Strain Rate Map

    • Global Earthquake Model Active Faults

Enhance georeferenced maps with terrain and data overlays

    • RGB image blending with terrain intensity

    • Clipping masks for easy layering

Create oblique block diagrams of terrain

    • Rapidly update vertical exaggeration, look direction, and look altitude after initial plotting


3D modeling with Sketchfab


    • Option to export terrain, seismicity, Slab2.0 plate interface, volcanoes, and GPS vectors as textured 3D meshes (OBJ format) packaged into a Sketchfab model.

    • Make movies using Sketchfab's timeslice option


For examples, see my 3D Modeling page

Other functions

Seismicity versus time

Seismicity b-value analysis

Hypsometry

Stereonets

Data plotting using projected coordinates