Erode Lab runs on open data and published science. These are the datasets, papers
and software it uses, with the licence and the credit each one asks for.
Data the app loads
Elevation: Terrain Tiles on AWS
The terrain around your pin, from Terrain Tiles
(Mapzen / Tilezen, hosted by the AWS Open Data programme). They combine:
3DEP, SRTM and GMTED2010 data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.
ETOPO1: Global ETOPO1 terrain data, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
EU-DEM: Produced using Copernicus data and information funded by the European Union – EU-DEM layers.
ArcticDEM: DEM(s) were created from DigitalGlobe, Inc., imagery and funded under National Science Foundation awards 1043681, 1559691 and 1542736.
Rock units and lithologies from the Macrostrat geologic map and
columns. Peters, S. E., Husson, J. M., Czaplewski, J. (2018), Macrostrat: a platform for geological data
integration and deep-time Earth crust research, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 19:1393–1409.
CC BY 4.0
Climate: ERA5 (Copernicus Climate Change Service)
Monthly temperature and precipitation for the snowline (2011–2020), and the wind during rain for the
optional "rain shaped by the terrain" setting (hourly, 2023–2024), precomputed from ERA5. Hersbach, H. et al. (2020), The ERA5 global reanalysis, Quarterly Journal of
the Royal Meteorological Society 146:1999–2049. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service
information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made
of the Copernicus information or data it contains.
Copernicus licence
Active faults: GEM Global Active Faults Database and regional catalogues
Merged into 5° tiles served from our own storage (/r2/faults/v2/) under CC BY-SA 4.0:
GEM Global Active Faults Database (GAF-DB): Styron, R., Pagani, M. (2020), The GEM Global Active Faults Database, Earthquake Spectra 36(1_suppl):160–180, doi:10.1177/8755293020944182 (GEM Science Tools). CC BY-SA 4.0
New Zealand Community Fault Model v1.0: Seebeck, H. et al. (2022), New Zealand Community Fault Model – version 1.0, GNS Science Report 2021/57, doi:10.21420/GA7S-BS61 (GNS Science). CC BY 4.0
European Fault-Source Model 2020 (EFSM20): Basili, R. et al. (2022), The European Fault-Source Model 2020 (EFSM20): geologic input data for the European Seismic Hazard Model 2020, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (doi:10.13127/efsm20, EFEHR / INGV). CC BY 4.0
Central America and Caribbean Active Faults Database (CCAF-DB): Styron, R., García-Pelaez, J., Pagani, M. (2020), CCAF-DB: the Caribbean and Central American active fault database, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 20:831–857 (GEM Science Tools). CC BY 4.0
Australian Neotectonic Features Database: Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia), Neotectonic Features Database. CC BY 4.0
Terrain, images or data produced from a run that used these faults are adaptations of the database:
if you share them, credit GEM and the relevant regional catalogue and share them under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the Terms.
Measured erosion rates: San Gabriel Mountains ¹⁰Be compilation
DiBiase, R. A., Neely, A. B., Whipple, K. X., Heimsath, A. M., Niemi, N. A. (2023), Compilation of detrital
¹⁰Be erosion rate data, San Gabriel Mountains, CA, USA, Version 1.0, IEDA,
doi:10.26022/IEDA/112928 (paper: Geophysical Research Letters,
doi:10.1029/2023GL104392). Used for the lab's optional "Measured erosion (¹⁰Be)" uplift pattern and to calibrate erodibility.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Our copy (outlet positions and rates) is an adaptation under the same licence. Terrain, images or data from a run
that used the measured uplift pattern are adaptations too: if you share them, credit the compilation and share them
under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Active faults (US fallback and reserve): USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database
Bird, P. (2003), An updated digital model of plate boundaries, Geochemistry, Geophysics,
Geosystems 4(3):1027, doi:10.1029/2001GC000252. As converted by Hugo Ahlenius, Nordpil
(github.com/fraxen/tectonicplates).
ODC-By 1.0
Plate motions today: NNR-MORVEL56
Argus, D. F., Gordon, R. G., DeMets, C. (2011), Geologically current motion of 56 plates relative to
the no-net-rotation reference frame, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 12:Q11001,
doi:10.1029/2011GC003751.
Plate reconstructions
Merdith, A. S. et al. (2021), Extending full-plate tectonic models into deep time, Earth-Science
Reviews 214:103477 (model v1.2.4, Zenodo 13635864).
Müller, R. D. et al. (2022), A tectonic-rules-based mantle reference frame since 1 billion years ago,
Solid Earth 13:1127–1159 (EarthByte).
Scotese, C. R. (2016), PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for GPlates and the PaleoData Plotter Program
(Zenodo 5460860).
CC BY 4.0
Ancient elevation and temperature
Scotese, C. R., Wright, N. (2018), PALEOMAP Paleodigital Elevation Models (PaleoDEMS) for the
Phanerozoic (Zenodo 5460860).
Scotese, C. R., Song, H., Mills, B. J. W., van der Meer, D. G. (2021), Phanerozoic paleotemperatures,
Earth-Science Reviews 215:103503 (Zenodo 8238875).
CC BY 4.0
CO₂ and sea level
Cenozoic CO₂ Proxy Integration Project (2023), Toward a Cenozoic history of atmospheric CO₂,
Science 382:eadi5177 (data product December 2024, Zenodo 14537923).
Miller, K. G. et al. (2020), Cenozoic sea-level and cryospheric evolution from deep-sea geochemical
and continental margin records, Science Advances 6:eaaz1346
(PANGAEA 923139).
CC BY 4.0
Orbital insolation: La2004
Laskar, J., Robutel, P., Joutel, F., Gastineau, M., Correia, A. C. M., Levrard, B. (2004), A long-term
numerical solution for the insolation quantities of the Earth, Astronomy & Astrophysics
428:261–285. Files from IMCCE; Erode Lab uses
65°N summer insolation derived from them. IMCCE states no licence for these files; we use only a derived table, with this citation.
The model
The landscape model is written from published equations; no third-party model code is included. The
main ones:
Rivers: implicit stream-power incision, Braun, J., Willett, S. D. (2013), Geomorphology 180–181:170–179.
Sediment: deposition by rivers, Davy, P., Lague, D. (2009), Journal of Geophysical Research 114:F03007.
Hillslopes: nonlinear soil creep, Roering, J. J., Kirchner, J. W., Dietrich, W. E. (1999), Water Resources Research 35(3):853–870.
Snowline: after Ohmura, A., Kasser, P., Funk, M. (1992), Journal of Glaciology 38(130):397–411.
Ice ages: Paillard, D. (1998), Nature 391:378–381; CO₂ delays from Talento, S., Ganopolski, A. (2021), Earth System Dynamics 12:1275–1293.
Erosion-rate calibration: DiBiase, R. A. et al. (2023), Compilation of detrital ¹⁰Be erosion rate data,
San Gabriel Mountains, CA, USA, v1.0, IEDA, doi:10.26022/IEDA/112928 (CC BY-SA 4.0); only fitted constants
are used in the app.
Erosion rates per rock type: OCTOPUS database v2, Codilean, A. T. et al. (2022), Earth Syst. Sci. Data
14, 3695–3713, doi:10.5194/essd-14-3695-2022 (CC BY 4.0); only fitted factors are used in the app.
Measured erosion rates in the lab (the check after a run from the past, a research preview, and the uplift offered where a map has
no faults and no measured basin inside it): the same OCTOPUS database v2 (Codilean et al. 2022, CC BY 4.0),
basin outlines and ¹⁰Be rates, served by this site as tiles. Adapted: outlines simplified and coordinates rounded.
Reads the GeoTIFF elevation files Lab Cloud members upload, in their browser. (c) 2015 EOX IT Services GmbH. Bundles pako (MIT and Zlib), lerc (Apache-2.0, (c) Esri), zstddec (MIT and BSD-3-Clause), quick-lru, parse-headers and @petamoriken/float16 (MIT) and web-worker (Apache-2.0). MIT
Draws the pin map's vector tiles (bundles PMTiles, @protomaps/basemaps, pbf and @mapbox/vector-tile, BSD-3-Clause; rbush and color2k, MIT; potpack and point-geometry, ISC). BSD-3-Clause
Bitter, Chivo and Chivo Mono
Typefaces by Huerta Tipográfica and Omnibus-Type. SIL Open Font License 1.1
Spotted a missing or wrong credit? Tell us at hello@erodelab.com and we'll fix it.