Presets
Playback
Geological clock
Resin and shell
Environment
Camera
Layers
Quality
Model check
The science
Cross-linking (hardening)
Fresh conifer resin is a mix of terpenoid monomers. Oxidation and slow thermal chemistry join them into a rigid network: first-order kinetics dC/dt = k (1 - C), so C(t) = 1 - e^(-kt). The rate follows Arrhenius: k = A exp(-Ea / R T). Here A is calibrated so the cross-link half-life at 15 °C is 5 million years (copal to amber takes roughly 2 to 40 Myr in the fossil record); Ea only sets how strongly temperature matters (Q10 about 2 for 55 kJ/mol).
Why the insect survives
Decay of tissue needs oxygen. Through the shell the quasi-steady Fickian flux is J = D(C) c0 / L, and the diffusivity collapses as the network densifies: D = D0 exp(-beta C), with D0 scaled by 1/viscosity. The sealed specimen decays like dI/dt = -lambda f(C) I, where f is the flux relative to open air (1e-7 for fresh resin at L = 5 mm: an order of magnitude for O2 in a polymer versus in air). The unsealed control decays at the plain rate lambda. Antimicrobial terpenes and dehydration also help early on; they are not modelled.
What is simplified
The permeability constants, beta and the unsealed decay rate are illustrative, not measurements of a particular amber. Real amber chemistry also involves polymerisation of labdanoid diterpenes, loss of volatiles and oxidation; the page captures only the temperature dependence and the diffusion-barrier logic. The pool growth and the falling insect are visual and run in real time, independent of the geological clock.
What the 3D scene shows
Resin colour, opacity and gloss follow C; the sealed insect darkens with lost integrity; the control specimen on the branch shrinks and browns at the unsealed rate; the blue dots drifting through the shell are drawn in proportion to the relative flux exp(-beta C). The diorama, insect, branch, needles and resin meshes were modelled in Blender and baked there.