Dig Earth Studio LabIsland in
a Million.
A million years. One extraordinary landscape. Raise a volcanic island, sculpt it with rivers, build beaches, and watch the ocean redraw its edge. This time, see every ridge and valley in three dimensions.
How to explore your island
Be the geologist. Change the forces shaping one volcanic island and look for the evidence they leave behind.
- 01Choose your geological conditions.
- 02Run geological time, up to one million years.
- 03Investigate the landscape and compare outcomes.
Science tip: Change just one variable at a time, then compare islands at the same age. That makes cause and effect easier to investigate.
| MEASUREMENT | ISLAND A Saved | ISLAND B Current | DIFFERENCE B − A |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exposed land area km² | — | — | — |
| Highest elevation metres above sea | — | — | — |
| Sandy coast km² | — | — | — |
| Vegetation cover average of exposed land | — | — | — |
| Relative sea level metres | — | — | — |
Compare islands at the same geological age to isolate the effect of a changed parameter.
The island remembers.
Read the geological record as the landscape changes.
- Advance the clock to begin its story.
One island. Two lives.
Save the current island, reset, change a condition, and compare them at the same geological age.
UNDERSTAND THE GEOLOGYWhat is happening to the island?Uncover the forces behind the changing landscape
Construction and destruction happen together. Eruptions add lava and build new rock. Rain, flowing water and gravity wear rock down, carve valleys and move material downslope. Whether a summit rises or falls depends on which processes dominate over time.
Sediment does not disappear. Some eroded material reaches rivers and coastlines, where it may settle as sand. Waves can reshape or remove that sand, so stronger waves do not automatically mean smaller beaches everywhere.
Life changes the landscape. Vegetation can bind and protect soil, limiting erosion and sediment supply. New lava can bury vegetation; plants gradually re-establish where conditions allow.
Coastlines move for more than one reason. Sea level can flood or expose land even without a change in rock elevation. Compare the original shoreline with the current one, then use the Changes view to distinguish erosion, deposition and submergence.
What the model cannot tell us: These are simplified, illustrative relationships. The percentage settings are not measured physical rates, and the million-year outcomes are not predictions for any particular island.
Try a scientific investigation
Choose a question, run both versions to the same geological age, and use Save island A and Compare A/B to inspect the evidence. Keep every other setting unchanged.
01 / VEGETATIONCan vegetation save an island?
Start: Select Bare island, advance to 1,000,000 years and save island A.
Change: Select Rewilded and advance to the same age for island B.
Observe: Compare vegetation cover, exposed land, summit height and sandy coast. Use Changes to find where the terrain differs.
Explain: Where did vegetation reduce erosion, and what trade-off might that create for coastal sediment?
02 / COASTLINESDo stronger waves always produce smaller beaches?
Start: Select Beach builder, run to 1,000,000 years and save island A.
Change: Select Storm coast and run island B to the same age. These presets primarily differ in wave energy.
Observe: Compare sandy-coast area and coastline shape, and inspect where sand accumulates or disappears.
Explain: Does a stronger wave setting necessarily remove all beaches, or can it redistribute sediment?
03 / VOLCANOESCan volcanic growth outpace erosion?
Start: Select Balanced, run to 1,000,000 years and save island A.
Change: Select Balanced again, increase only Volcanic activity to 90%, reset to apply the change, then run island B to the same age.
Observe: Compare summit elevation, exposed land area and the pattern of newly built terrain in Changes view.
Explain: Where does new volcanic rock outweigh erosion, and where does erosion still leave its mark?
Give the Earth
a million years.
The terrain is a real 170 × 170 elevation grid rendered as a 3D mesh. Each time step changes the mesh using simplified rules for volcanic deposition, river incision, wave erosion and coastal sediment. Vegetation establishes and recolonises according to rainfall, altitude and the vegetation control, protecting soil and reducing sediment supply. Fresh lava can bury plants. The blue water plane moves with sea level, while the sandy surface is updated from the sediment layer.
Try this: Choose Bare island and run to 1,000,000 years. Save it as island A, then choose Rewilded and run again. Keep both at the same age, press Compare A/B and select Changes: Island B displays the actual height difference relative to Island A. You can directly investigate how roots, plant cover and sediment supply alter the terrain.
The model is exploratory and conceptual: process rates, vegetation growth potential, soil protection, colours, deposition and landform geometry are stylized for learning, not scientifically calibrated to a particular real island. Sandy-coast area is derived from grid cells with visible accumulated sand, not a field measurement. Requires a WebGL-capable browser.