HomeChemistry & MaterialsWill-o'-the-Wisp: 3D Marsh Ignition

Will-o'-the-Wisp: 3D Marsh Ignition

Orbit a full 3D marsh landscape at night and watch pale blue-green wisp flames ignite from rising methane and pyrophoric diphosphane, drift on the wind, and extinguish over the bog surface.

Chemistry & Materials3DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version
3d-will-o-the-wisp-marsh-gas-ignition ↗ Open standalone

This simulation renders a full 3D marsh landscape you can freely orbit at night — a procedural bog terrain dotted with standing water pools and decomposition vents. Gas bubbles rise from the vents as organic matter breaks down anaerobically, releasing methane and traces of pyrophoric diphosphane. When a bubble's diphosphane content crosses the ignition threshold it flashes alight, spawning a small pale blue-green flame that flickers, drifts across the marsh on the simulated wind, and burns out within a few seconds — the same spontaneous-ignition process long proposed to explain the "ignis fatuus" folklore lights. Adjust decomposition rate, diphosphane concentration and wind to see how often wisps ignite and how far they wander before going dark.

⚙ Under the hood

Orbit a full 3D marsh landscape at night and watch pale blue-green wisp flames ignite from rising methane and pyrophoric diphosphane, drift on the wind, and extinguish over the bog surface.

ChemistryCombustionHalloweenThree.js

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install

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