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Vent Chimney REE Biomineralization (2D)

Interactive 2D cross-section model of a hydrothermal vent chimney: hot metal-rich vent fluid mixes with cold seawater across a genuinely diffused-and-advected mixing field, driving mixing-zone mineral precipitation that microbial colonization can catalyze — tune REE concentration, pH and metabolic energy flux and watch the chimney wall accrete in real time.

Molecular Biology2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

A 2D cross-section through a hydrothermal vent chimney: hot, metal-rich vent fluid rises through the conduit centre and genuinely diffuses and advects sideways into cold seawater across a live finite-difference mixing field, computed at every grid cell every frame. Mineral supersaturation peaks in the mixing zone where hot and cold fluids meet in roughly equal parts, and precipitates as REE-phosphate mass that accumulates cell by cell. Chemosynthetic microbes colonize that same interface and, when toggled on, multiply the local precipitation rate — a real biomineralization catalysis effect you can switch off to directly compare accumulated mass with and without microbial colonization. Tune REE concentration, pH and metabolic energy flux and watch the chimney wall thicken in real time.

⚙ Under the hood

Chemosynthetic microbes colonize a hydrothermal vent chimney in this 3D model and biomineralize rare-earth-element phosphate crystals from the vent fluid — tune REE concentration, pH and metabolic energy flux and watch the biofilm spread and crystals nucleate in real time.

biomineralizationhydrothermal ventmicrobiologyrare earth elementsdeep seabiomining

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