earth-sciences

Sedimentology & Stratigraphy

Simulate the physics of sediment transport and deposition — grain settling through fluids, turbidite sequences, bedload transport thresholds, stratigraphic facies stacking, and burial compaction following Athy's law.

sedimentologystratigraphygrain settlingturbiditesediment transportShields parametercompactiongeology

Sedimentology is the study of how particles are transported, deposited, and lithified into the sedimentary rocks that cover roughly 75% of Earth's land surface. From the Stokes settling of clay particles in quiet lakes to the catastrophic turbidity currents that carve submarine canyons, sedimentary processes record Earth's history in layers of stone that geologists learn to read like pages of a book.

These simulations model grain settling dynamics, turbidite deposition sequences, bedload transport thresholds, facies stacking governed by Walther's law, and porosity loss during burial compaction — giving you hands-on experience with the quantitative tools used by petroleum geologists, basin analysts, and sedimentary researchers.

5 interactive simulations

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Compaction & Porosity: Athy's Law of Burial

Model porosity reduction with burial depth using Athy's exponential compaction law — understand how sediments transform into rock and predict reservoir quality at depth

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Grain Settling: Stokes Law & Reynolds Number

Simulate particle settling through water using Stokes law — explore how grain size, density, and fluid viscosity control settling velocity and sediment sorting

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Sediment Transport: Shields Parameter & Bedload

Calculate the Shields parameter and critical shear stress for sediment entrainment — determine when a river or current begins to move sand, gravel, or cobbles along the bed

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Stratigraphic Column: Walther's Law & Facies

Build a stratigraphic column by varying sea level and sediment supply — observe how laterally adjacent facies stack vertically according to Walther's law of facies succession

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Turbidite Sequence: Bouma Divisions & Graded Bedding

Model turbidite deposition showing the Bouma sequence — visualize how flow velocity decay produces graded bedding, parallel lamination, ripple cross-lamination, and hemipelagic drape