Play Deep Time Earth is built on the following open datasets and tools.
Paleodigital Elevation Models (0–540 Ma heightmaps)
Scotese, C.R. and Wright, N.M. (2018). PALEOMAP Paleodigital Elevation Models (PaleoDEMS) for the Phanerozoic.
Modifications: NetCDF → 8-bit heightmap → 1024/2048px lossless WebP. Historical 0–50Ma strait dilation and age-dependent processing order retained; modern Natural Earth mask only at 0Ma
Ocean / marine polygons for shallow-sea correction at 0Ma (modern coastline)
Natural Earth — naturalearthdata.com
Modifications: ne_10m_ocean + ne_10m_marine_polys GeoJSON converted to 4096×2048 boolean mask, applied as sea overlay in the final heightmap stage
0–540 Ma表面温度 / 降水 / 风(55个10 Ma时点,插值至109个5 Ma时点)
Li, X. et al. (2022). A high-resolution climate simulation dataset for the past 540 million years. Scientific Data, 9, 371.
DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01490-4
Modifications: CESM 表面温度年平均值(T):模型估计,并非对远古的直接观测。 NetCDF 转为原始288×192网格的无损RGB WebP(8位量化),从10 Ma线性插值至5 Ma。全球表面温度指标为面积加权年平均值。0 Ma为工业化前模型;柯本为基于年平均值的简化近似分类。风使用单独的纹理。
Paleobiology Database (fossil occurrence records)
Peters, S.E. and McClennen, M. (2016). The Paleobiology Database application programming interface. Paleobiology, 42(1), 1-7.
Modifications: Explicit overlap query in 5 Ma windows (0 Ma: 0–2.5 Ma). At most 10,000 sampled by group, region and collection; only valid reconstructed points shown. Age intervals and taxon/collection/reference IDs preserved. Counts are not abundance or biodiversity.
Plate-tectonic coordinate reconstruction (run locally)
Müller, R.D. et al. (2018). GPlates: Building a Virtual Earth Through Deep Time. G-cubed, 19.
DOI: 10.1029/2018GC007584
Modifications: Coordinates pre-computed locally with PyGPlates and stored as static JSON
0–200 Ma plate boundaries (separate model comparison)
Seton, M. et al. (2012). Global continental and ocean basin reconstructions since 200 Ma. Earth-Science Reviews, 113.
Modifications: 使用 PyGPlates 每隔 5 Ma 计算板块边界拓扑,将坐标四舍五入至 0.1°,并保存为静态 JSON。
0–540 Ma coordinate reconstruction (Scotese 2016 reference frame; per-point validity checked)
Scotese, C.R. (2016). PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for GPlates, v3. Zenodo.
Modifications: Pre-rotated fossil/city/geo_event coordinates with PyGPlates and stored as static JSON
200–540 Ma plate boundary topology
Müller, R.D. et al. (2022). A tectonic-rules-based mantle reference frame since 1 billion years ago – implications for supercontinent cycles and plate–mantle system evolution. Solid Earth, 13, 1127–1159. Model v1.2.4.
Modifications: 使用 PyGPlates 每隔 5 Ma 计算板块边界拓扑,将坐标四舍五入至 0.1°,并保存为静态 JSON。
类群剪影(在化石详情中按需查询,也用于生物卡片——运行时 API)
PhyloPic — phylopic.org
Modifications: Runtime API; preserves original attribution (distinct from uploader), artwork UUID/build and artwork/license links. Thumbnails resized.
Single source for geological boundaries and period names
International Commission on Stratigraphy, International Chronostratigraphic Chart, 2026/06.
Source ↗Modifications: Period boundaries extracted into JSON with display colors and localized names
1 Ma summaries of Cenozoic CO₂ proxy records
CenCO2PIP Consortium (2023), Science 382, eadi5177; vetted data v1.02 (2024).
Modifications: Eligible category 1/2 records; median of study medians. Ranges describe samples, not confidence intervals. Empty bins remain unavailable.
Sea-level reconstruction, 0.98–64.82 Ma
Miller, K.G. et al. (2020). Smoothed Cenozoic sea-level relative to modern from deep-sea geochemical and continental margin records [dataset]. PANGAEA.
Modifications: Linear interpolation of supplied smoothed series; no extrapolation. 0 Ma is a present-day 0 m reference.
板块边界来自独立对比模型,其参考框架不同于PALEOMAP地形和坐标,可能与海岸线不重合。
由风和海温推导的示意图,并非海洋环流模拟;粒子速度不代表实际流速。
Wind: CESM annual mean U/V, 1000 hPa. Atmospheric rim glow is decorative.
Smithsonian NMNH的CC0标本示例,不表示与地图PBDB记录属于同一标本。名称与年代保留博物馆目录原文。
Anomalina beccariiformis (White, 1928)
CC46806 · Mesozoic / Cretaceous / Late
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History
Hyracotherium tapirinum (Cope)
V1076 · Cenozoic / Paleogene / Eocene / Wasatchian
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History
Platycarya americana Hickey
PAL606437 · Cenozoic / Paleogene / Eocene
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History
Porzana astrictocarpus Olson
PAL175893 · Cenozoic / Recent
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History
Neocaudites triplistriatus (Edwards, 1944)
PAL172753 · Cenozoic / Neogene / Miocene
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History
Amphissa reticulata Dall
PAL651332 · Cenozoic
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History
Geist Font
Google Fonts (Vercel)
OFL 1.1
O₂ literature ranges
Mills et al. (2023), Evolution of Atmospheric O₂ Through the Phanerozoic, Revisited, DOI 10.1146/annurev-earth-032320-095425
Original literature summary
생물군/계통수
Compiled from textbooks and literature
Editorially curated
Next.js · React · Three.js · React Three Fiber · GLSL · Tailwind CSS · PyGPlates · Python