Modeling Geocomplexity: A New Kind of Science

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Modeling Geocomplexity A New Kind of Science

• Donald L. Turcotte
• Dept. Earth Atmospheric Sciences
• Cornell University

S. Wolfram, A New Kind of Science(Wolfram
Media, Champaign IL, 2002), 1197p
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The old science

• Use a discrete model to derive continuum
  partial differential equations (i.e., control
  volumes)

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The old science

• Obtain solutions by
• Analytical solutions (i.e., seafloor bathymetry)
• Expansions in special functions (i.e., expansion
  of Earths gravity field in Legendre functions)
• Discrete numerical solutions (i.e., finite
  difference, finite element)

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The new science

• Use of cellular automata, i.e., molecular
  dynamics

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• Solutions to differential equations cannot
  produce realistic landforms (drainage networks),
  a cellular automata can!
• Solutions to differential equations cannot
  produce the observed frequency-magnitude
  distribution of earthquakes, a cellular automata
  can!

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The sequence of 256 possible cellular automaton
rules. The rules can conveniently be numbered
from 0 to 255.
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• Many geology students are turned off by
  mathematics (differential equations)
• Many of these same students enjoy computer
  games
• Cellular automata models are computer games
• Can the use of cellular automata models in
  undergraduate geology courses broaden the
  interest in geology and made it appear to be more
  modern?