Free Geological Tools

These are simple interactive tools that explore real geological and geotechnical concepts through visual physics. Each one is built to help geologists, students and engineers understand what is mechanically possible and what is not.

Seismic Interpretation Sandbox

A lightweight experimental viewer for testing geometric interpretations and cartoon seismic ideas.

Under construction.

Road Cut Design Sandbox

An interactive planar slope calculator that shows how bedding dip, friction and pore pressure influence stability. Includes a real time Mohr diagram and a visual road cut section.

Try it here.

The AVO Sandbox

A 1D elastic laboratory for exploring how reflection amplitudes respond to changes in rock and fluid properties. Version 1D lets you manipulate contrasts, angles, depth, noise and lithology to see Shuey, Aki Richards and Fatti responses update in real time. Built to reveal what the classic approximations capture, where they break, and how elastic behaviour actually deforms under perturbation. A simple space to experiment, question assumptions, and build true AVO intuition.

Try it here

Road Cut Stability Climate Sandbox 

Interactive modelling tool designed to explore how changing rainfall regimes associated with climate change can affect the stability of road cuts.

The sandbox combines simplified slope stability mechanics with a transparent hydrological response model to show how a road cut that is stable under present climate conditions can become marginal or unstable as rainfall becomes more intense and more persistent. Geometry and material properties are kept explicit and adjustable, while rainfall statistics are varied to represent current, mid-century, and end-of-century climate scenarios.

Rather than providing site-specific predictions, the sandbox focuses on mechanisms. It illustrates how storm clustering, impaired drainage during very wet periods, pore pressure activation, and loss of unsaturated strength can interact to reduce safety margins over time. Stability is evaluated both deterministically, through the factor of safety, and probabilistically, through Monte Carlo estimation of failure probability.

The tool is intended for exploration and learning. It allows users to test assumptions, examine thresholds, and understand why risk can increase long before collapse occurs. The Road Cut Stability Climate Sandbox is not a replacement for detailed geotechnical analysis, but a way to reason about climate sensitivity, uncertainty, and failure regimes in engineered slopes.

Try it here