This simulator follows a rock specimen through the main stages of the rock cycle. Choose one of five processes - cooling, weathering, compaction and cementation, heat and pressure, or melting - drag the progress slider or animate it, and inspect the source and destination states.
• A real-time 3D scene with 5 inspectable parts (Magma source, Crystalline igneous specimen, Loose sediment and layered deposit, Metamorphic specimen and Active transformation path), with home view, focus-selected-part, auto-rotate, expand, instrument-cover and hide-labels scene tools, plus a model response curve beneath the scene. • Experiment controls: Process (Cool magma → igneous, Weather igneous → sediment, Compact/cement sediment → sedimentary, Heat/pressure sedimentary → metamorphic, Melt metamorphic → magma); Transformation progress (0-1); animate selected process; show explanatory motion markers; pause/resume, 0.1 s and 1 s single-step buttons, four playback speeds and a restart button. • A Curves & measurements tab with a parameter-comparison chart, a live-measurements chart, the model equations and snapshot readouts (Illustrated process completion; Source state code (0–4); Destination state code (0–4); Tracked specimen mass). • An Experiments tab with 2 guided presets (solid-state change and weathering) and a Model verification bench that runs independent fresh models, plus a timestamped event log and a copyable trial report. • A Learn & assess tab with guided lessons, a knowledge-check quiz with reset and a written model-scope statement linking to a technical reference.
The lab numbers the states 0 magma, 1 igneous, 2 sediment, 3 sedimentary and 4 metamorphic. Cooling turns magma into igneous rock, weathering turns igneous rock into sediment, compaction and cementation turn sediment into sedimentary rock, heat and pressure turn sedimentary rock into metamorphic rock, and melting returns metamorphic rock to magma.
It reports process completion, source and destination state codes, and the tracked specimen mass, which stays conserved.
Metamorphism occurs in the solid state, so a rock does not have to melt to change. The five-step loop is only one example route: any exposed rock can weather, many rocks can metamorphose, and different rock types can melt.
The lab is a process-sequence model, not mineral equilibrium or quantitative metamorphic kinetics, and particle counts and banding are schematic.
No. Metamorphism occurs in the solid state under heat and pressure. Only the melting process returns a rock to magma.
No. The geological network has many possible pathways. The lab illustrates one loop through five processes, but real rocks can skip steps or take other routes.
That the specimen mass is conserved while it changes state, illustrating that the rock cycle transforms material rather than creating or destroying it.
No. It is a process-sequence illustration without mineral equilibrium, reaction kinetics or real timescales.