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Volcanic Eruption Modeling — Lava Viscosity & Cooling (2D)

A 2D cross-section volcano lab: eruption force sets the ballistic launch speed of ash and lava bombs, an effusion-rate slider controls how often lava packets leave the crater, and a cooling-rate slider governs how fast each packet's temperature — and its Jeffreys-law flow viscosity — climbs toward the solidus and stops the flow.

Geology & Earth Science2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

The 3D scene this companion pairs with plays out a night-time eruption on autopilot — camera orbit only, no way to change how hard the volcano erupts or how the lava behaves. This 2D cross-section rebuilds the same event as an adjustable model: eruption force sets the launch speed of ballistic ash and lava bombs (ordinary projectile motion), an effusion-rate slider feeds fresh lava packets into the flank, and each packet's viscosity is computed from its own cooling temperature with a Shaw-style Arrhenius law and driven downslope by the Jeffreys equation for laminar sheet flow — so raising the cooling rate visibly stiffens and halts the flow front instead of just recoloring it. A live readout panel tracks plume height, flow-front distance, its temperature and viscosity, and the number of airborne ash particles as the eruption runs.

⚙ Under the hood

A 2D cross-section volcanic eruption model where eruption force drives ballistic ash/bomb trajectories, an effusion-rate slider feeds lava packets whose Jeffreys-law flow speed depends on a Shaw-style Arrhenius viscosity computed from each packet's own cooling temperature.

volcanic eruptionlava viscosityjeffreys flow lawballistic ejectaash plume2d

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install