This simulator demonstrates the drip-by-drip chemistry of speleothem growth, showing how carbon dioxide degassing drives calcite precipitation, how stalactites and stalagmites build up layer by layer over simulated centuries, and how each layer's oxygen isotope ratio and uranium-thorium age combine to reconstruct a dated paleoclimate curve.
Adjust drip rate, cave humidity, and simulated rainfall isotope composition to watch a stalactite and stalagmite grow in real time. Step through simulated centuries to add growth layers, then inspect any layer to see its calculated oxygen-18 to oxygen-16 ratio and its uranium-thorium age, and compare the resulting isotope curve against the climate scenario you selected.
Sliders control drip rate, cave air humidity, and past rainfall isotope signature; buttons step growth forward through simulated time and select individual growth layers; a readout panel displays each selected layer's oxygen isotope ratio and uranium-thorium calculated age alongside the running paleoclimate curve.
Some actively growing stalagmites deposit less than a tenth of a millimeter of calcite per year, meaning a formation no larger than a dinner plate can silently record over one hundred thousand years of Earth's climate history.
This simulator demonstrates the drip-by-drip chemistry of speleothem growth, showing how carbon dioxide degassing drives calcite precipitation, how stalactites and stalagmites build up layer by layer over simulated centuries, and how each layer's oxygen isotope ratio and uranium-thorium age combine to reconstruct a dated paleoclimate curve.
This simulator demonstrates the drip-by-drip chemistry of speleothem growth, showing how carbon dioxide degassing drives calcite precipitation, how stalactites and stalagmites build up layer by layer over simulated centuries, and how each layer's oxygen isotope ratio and uranium-thorium age combine to reconstruct a dated paleoclimate curve.
Adjust drip rate, cave humidity, and simulated rainfall isotope composition to watch a stalactite and stalagmite grow in real time. Step through simulated centuries to add growth layers, then inspect any layer to see its calculated oxygen-18 to oxygen-16 ratio and its uranium-thorium age, and compare the resulting isotope curve against the climate scenario you selected.
Some actively growing stalagmites deposit less than a tenth of a millimeter of calcite per year, meaning a formation no larger than a dinner plate can silently record over one hundred thousand years of Earth's climate history.