The Geology mode is by far the most advanced educational program we have created. It is designed to help understand geological layers and the processes involved in creating and shaping them. The user can define many typical parameters such as the number of layers, their immersion or fold radius on the screen and observe the effect in the sandbox. In contrast to traditional learning methods, where one can only view single cross-section on a screen or a page in a book, here they can create an infinite number of cross-sections themselves. They can also shape the terrain, like a glacier would, and observe the visible effects in real time. We plan to develop the program further by adding new geological data and events, such as dikes or accumulation.
Interaction
Change the shape of the terrain by digging and piling sand. Create characteristic landforms, such as valleys or cliffs. The colors will change according to the parameters you define on the screen. Try to follow a single layer (one color) with all its depressions and folds – this is how the earth’s core is built.
Buttons
Single: –
Two buttons: –
Numeric Keypad
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Touchscreen
Tap the arrow at the bottom of the screen to open the roll-up menu. From there, select ‘Geology’. The on-screen GUI contains four categories of settings: Layers, Tilt, Fold and Fault. In each of them you’ll find different parameters to tweak. Don’t hesitate to use them, as any change can be easily undone.
You can always see your changes in the preview. Toggle visibility on the sand with the check button in the top left corner. Tap ‘Reset’ to return to the original settings. Settings overview:
- Scale layers (Layers tab) – tap & hold the top or bottom bar in the preview on the left side of the screen. Drag it up or down to thicken or slim down the layers. The two bars allow you to move bottom and top layer of the scale independently.
- Add/remove layers (Layers tab) – Use the ‘+’ and ‘-‘ buttons to add or remove layers. New layer is always added on top of the previous ones.
- Select color (Layers tab) – First tap on one of the layers in the preview. Next tap on any color from the palette on the right (stratigraphic table) to apply it to the selected layer.
- Change layer power (thickness) (Layers tab) – You can adjust the thickness of an individual layer by selecting it and using the ‘Power’ slider or arrows on the right.
- Scale contour lines (Layers tab) – Use the ‘Number’ slider or arrows to change the density of the topographic contour lines.
- Change layer immersion (dip) (Tilt tab) – Use the ‘Immersion’ slider or arrows to tilt all layers.
- Change layer direction (Tilt tab) – Use the ‘Direction’ slider or arrows to change the direction of the tilt plane.
- Change fold immersion (Fold tab) – Use the ‘Immersion’ slider or arrows to tilt the disturbance plane.
- Change fold direction (Fold tab) – Use the ‘Direction’ slider or arrows to change the direction of the disturbance plane.
- Change fold radius (Fold tab) – Use the ‘Fold radius’ slider or arrows to change the radius or length of the folds.
- Change fold amplitude (Fold tab) – Use the ‘Amplitude’ slider or arrows to change the amplitude or height of the folds.
- Change fault immersion (Fault tab) – Use the ‘Immersion’ slider or arrows to tilt the fault plane.
- Change fault direction (Fault tab) – Use the ‘Direction’ slider or arrows to change the direction of the fault plane.
- Fault placement (Fault tab) – Use the ‘Offset’ slider or arrows to move the fault plane along the longer side of the sandbox.
- Layers slip (Fault tab) – Use the ‘Slip’ slider to move all the layers on one side of the fault plane up or down along the plane.