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Welcome to the homepage for G-ADOPT

Logo The Geoscientific ADjoint Optimisation PlaTform (G-ADOPT) is a next-generation computational platform for simulating geoscientific flows. It is being developed and maintained by researchers from the Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University (ANU), alongside international partners.

Building on composable abstraction and automatic code generation techniques, G-ADOPT provides accurate, efficient, flexible, easily extensible, scalable, transparent, and reproducible open-source research software for (forward and inverse) data-driven geoscientific simulations.

Areas of current application include:

  1. Geodynamics, with a particular emphasis on simulating mantle dynamics and its diverse surface manifestations;
  2. Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA), the ongoing response of Earth's surface and sea level to changes in ice and water loading as Earth moves into and out of periods of glaciation — in conjunction with the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science;
  3. Groundwater, focussing on predicting the evolution of water storage in Australia — in conjunction with the ANU Institute for Water Futures.

Over time, the webpage will be updated to include tutorials and information on benchmark configurations in each of these geoscientific domain.


Thermal structure predicted from a global mantle convection simulation in G-ADOPT that incorporates 230 Myr of plate motion history reconstructed in GPlates. Each image includes a background cross-section, a radial surface immediately above the core-mantle boundary, and transparent isosurfaces at temperature anomalies (i.e. away from the radial average) of T=-0.075 (blue) and T=0.075 (red), highlighting the location of downwelling slabs and upwelling mantle plumes, respectively. Continental boundaries provide a geographic reference. The animation presents an Africa-centered view.