This simulation demonstrates how blocks of crust with different thicknesses and densities float in equilibrium on a denser, deformable mantle layer, letting you directly compare Airy-style and Pratt-style isostatic compensation and observe how adding or removing surface load causes the crust to sink or rebound over time.
Adjust the crustal thickness and density sliders to see how each block settles into a new floating equilibrium, add or remove a surface load such as an ice sheet or sediment layer to watch subsidence or rebound unfold, and switch between Airy and Pratt compensation modes to compare how each model explains the same surface elevation.
Sliders control crustal thickness, crustal density, and applied surface load (ice or sediment); a toggle switches between Airy and Pratt compensation models; a time-progression control animates the gradual isostatic response, including subsidence under added load and rebound after load removal.
Did you know that parts of Scandinavia are still rising out of the sea today, more than eleven thousand years after the ice sheets that once depressed them finally melted away, and that engineers must account for this slow uplift when planning harbors and coastal infrastructure?
This simulation demonstrates how blocks of crust with different thicknesses and densities float in equilibrium on a denser, deformable mantle layer, letting you directly compare Airy-style and Pratt-style isostatic compensation and observe how adding or removing surface load causes the crust to sink or rebound over time.
This simulation demonstrates how blocks of crust with different thicknesses and densities float in equilibrium on a denser, deformable mantle layer, letting you directly compare Airy-style and Pratt-style isostatic compensation and observe how adding or removing surface load causes the crust to sink or rebound over time.
Adjust the crustal thickness and density sliders to see how each block settles into a new floating equilibrium, add or remove a surface load such as an ice sheet or sediment layer to watch subsidence or rebound unfold, and switch between Airy and Pratt compensation modes to compare how each model explains the same surface elevation.
Did you know that parts of Scandinavia are still rising out of the sea today, more than eleven thousand years after the ice sheets that once depressed them finally melted away, and that engineers must account for this slow uplift when planning harbors and coastal infrastructure?