simulating plate tectonic action!
- From: seanvbd@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: 2 Dec 2005 09:00:15 -0800
I am attempting to use a computer to calculate plate tectonics. What I
have come up with for the moment is to have thousands of spheres
forming a continent. I will then calculate all of the forces placed on
each sphere taking into account 2 or 3 forces:
1. gravity based on mass
2. force away from nearby spheres based on distance (above a certain
distance is zero)
possibly:
3. force toward selected spheres (based on distance) to form clumps or
rocks with a breaking tollerance of this bond if they grow too far
apart.
the momentum would then be updated based on the net forces for each
sphere
the positions would be updated after all the momentums are updated, and
then the cycle would repeat
What I want to do is start off with 2 continents that are mostly flat
(with irregularities), and have them slowly move toward eachother. They
should eventually mostly stop with a mountain range formed between the
two. The kinetic energy of the plates should be transfered to the
potential energy of the mountains.
This system should allow for rock slides. But it might not model
earthquakes correctly.
In any case I think I am probably missing something, and either way,
any ideas for how to calculate these forces correctly? I am not
exactly sure if what I have proposed is correct, and I am not sure of
the equations to calculate the forces based on distance. I was
thinking about a cubed relationship. (twice as close and 8 times the
force)
I have decided that there should be a floor, so no matter how much
force there is telling a sphere to move down, if it is at the floor,
there will automatically be a counter force applied to match!
Assuming this can work, I will try to simulate it all on a sphere
rather than a plane, and maybe add erosion, volcanoes and astroids!
Any ideas for how to do this correctly or any obvious mistakes? Is it
likely I will have a lot of vibrating particles? and is this bad? I
don't care how slow it goes as long as I can verify it's doing
something in a few minutes, I would run it for days.
Please reply with any comments, I don't care how absurd! Thanks.
.
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