The simulator models a shallow restricted lagoon undergoing progressive evaporation, tracking the concentration factor of seawater in real time and triggering mineral precipitation exactly when each salt's solubility threshold is crossed, reproducing the true chemically-ordered sequence of limestone, gypsum, halite, and potash salts.
Set the evaporation rate and basin inflow restriction, then run the simulation forward and watch the concentration factor climb on the readout. Pause at each threshold crossing to see which mineral begins precipitating and observe it accumulate as a distinct layer in the basin cross-section. Try stopping the evaporation early at different concentration factors to see which mineral layers form and which never appear, then compare the resulting stratigraphic column to real evaporite basin examples.
Sliders for evaporation rate and basin inflow restriction; play, pause, and reset controls for the evaporation timeline; a concentration factor readout; and a basin cross-section display that fills in mineral layers as each solubility threshold is crossed.
The Mediterranean Sea nearly evaporated completely dry around six million years ago during an event geologists call the Messinian salinity crisis, leaving behind evaporite deposits over a kilometer thick that are now buried beneath the modern seafloor, a discovery first made through offshore drilling that recovered exactly this predictable carbonate-gypsum-halite-potash sequence.
The simulator models a shallow restricted lagoon undergoing progressive evaporation, tracking the concentration factor of seawater in real time and triggering mineral precipitation exactly when each salt's solubility threshold is crossed, reproducing the true chemically-ordered sequence of limestone, gypsum, halite, and potash salts.
The simulator models a shallow restricted lagoon undergoing progressive evaporation, tracking the concentration factor of seawater in real time and triggering mineral precipitation exactly when each salt's solubility threshold is crossed, reproducing the true chemically-ordered sequence of limestone, gypsum, halite, and potash salts.
Set the evaporation rate and basin inflow restriction, then run the simulation forward and watch the concentration factor climb on the readout. Pause at each threshold crossing to see which mineral begins precipitating and observe it accumulate as a distinct layer in the basin cross-section. Try stopping the evaporation early at different concentration factors to see which mineral layers form and which never appear, then compare the resulting stratigraphic column to real evaporite basin examples.
The Mediterranean Sea nearly evaporated completely dry around six million years ago during an event geologists call the Messinian salinity crisis, leaving behind evaporite deposits over a kilometer thick that are now buried beneath the modern seafloor, a discovery first made through offshore drilling that recovered exactly this predictable carbonate-gypsum-halite-potash sequence.