Version 1.3.0
Three-Dimensional Circular Stromatolite Model
This release introduces a three-dimensional circular masked stromatolite model, extending the existing 3D framework to produce a circular microbial colony more representative of natural stromatolites.
The underlying biological model remains unchanged. Instead, this release demonstrates how a substantial increase in morphological realism can be achieved simply by changing the geometry of the growth domain while preserving the same governing equations for microbial growth, sediment accumulation, burial and environmental forcing.
Added
- Three-dimensional circular masked stromatolite implementation
- Circular growth domain centred within the computational grid
- Masked surface rendering and diagnostics
- Circular surface snapshots and final 3D visualisations
- Cross-sectional extraction through the completed circular colony
- Updated documentation describing the new implementation and its interpretation
Improved
- Extended the progression of spatial models from:
- One-dimensional reference model
- Two-dimensional cross-section
- Three-dimensional rectangular surface
- Three-dimensional circular colony
- Expanded Wiki documentation to reflect the new implementation and its role within the overall modelling framework
- Updated project documentation to reflect the transition from computational framework development towards investigations of stromatolite morphology
Notes
This release represents an important milestone in the project.
Previous versions progressively extended the biological model from one to three spatial dimensions. Version 1.3.0 demonstrates that simply changing the spatial geometry—from a rectangular computational domain to a circular microbial colony—produces a morphology immediately recognisable as a stromatolite without introducing additional biological complexity.
As with previous releases, the emphasis remains on allowing increasingly realistic morphology to emerge from simple ecological interactions rather than prescribing it directly.