Skip to content
Geolens

Explore

A world to investigate.

Choose a question, explore the model and connect what you find to a real landscape. Every lab is free to use in class or on your own.

62 labs

Orange and blue atmospheric layers above Earth's curved horizon, with a crescent Moon in the black sky.

Atmosphere

Atmosphere as a thin film

Atmospheric layers are distinguished mainly by how temperature changes with altitude.

Explore the model
Dense green tropical forest canopy at Bodiman, Cameroon.

Water & Carbon

Carbon cycle

Carbon moves among the atmosphere, organisms, soils, ocean and rocks.

Explore the model
Grassland with scattered acacia trees in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

Atmosphere

Climate types

Compare the world’s climate families through long-term temperature and rainfall patterns.

Explore the model
Aerial photograph of Spurn Point curving across the Humber estuary entrance.

Landforms

Coasts

Waves erode rock, transport sediment and deposit it along the coast.

Explore the model
Snow-covered Himalayan peaks and valleys photographed from the International Space Station.

Interior & Plates

Continental drift

Continents move with tectonic plates.

Explore the model
USGS topographic map of Mount Rainier with contours, glaciers and named summits.

Skills

Contours ↔ 3D terrain

A contour joins places at the same elevation.

Explore the model
A broad spiral of white clouds over the Pacific northeast of Japan.

Atmosphere

Cyclone and anticyclone

Around a low-pressure system, air tends to converge near the surface; around a high it tends to diverge.

Explore the model
ASTER satellite image of branching tributary valleys near the Colorado River in Canyonlands, Utah.

Water & Carbon

Drainage basin

A drainage basin collects water that flows towards a common outlet.

Explore the model
South African city lights beneath a curved glowing atmospheric horizon and stars, viewed from the ISS.

Planet

Earth rotation and the terminator

Earth turns eastward, carrying each location into sunlight and then darkness.

Explore the model
NASA CERES map of net radiation averaged over 2000–2015, with a −200 to +200 W m⁻² colour scale.

Atmosphere

Earth’s energy budget

Earth reflects some incoming sunlight and absorbs the rest.

Explore the model
Green crystalline mantle peridotite enclosed by darker volcanic host rock at Peridot Mesa, Arizona.

Interior & Plates

Earth’s interior

Seismic waves reveal an Earth with layers that differ in composition and physical state.

Explore the model
NASA ARIA map showing measured ground displacement along the Kamchatka Peninsula after the 2025 earthquake.

Hazards

Earthquakes

An earthquake releases energy when rock slips along a fault.

Explore the model
The dark lunar disc surrounded by the Sun's pale corona during the 2017 total solar eclipse.

Planet

Eclipses

An eclipse requires the Sun, Earth and Moon to align closely enough for one body to enter another’s shadow.

Explore the model
NOAA sea-surface temperature anomaly map with warmer-than-average water across the equatorial Pacific in late 2015.

Water & Carbon

ENSO and the Walker cell

Across the tropical Pacific, trade winds, warm surface water and the thermocline interact.

Explore the model
Tilted and folded sedimentary beds exposed at The Settlands coast.

Interior & Plates

Folds and faults

Rock layers may bend into folds or break and move along faults.

Explore the model
A low shelf cloud sweeps over buildings at Brock University in Ontario.

Atmosphere

Fronts as wedges

A weather front separates air masses with different temperature and density.

Explore the model
Younger gently dipping red sandstone overlies steep grey beds at Siccar Point, Scotland.

Planet

Geologic time

Earth’s history spans about 4.54 billion years.

Explore the model
The Aletsch Glacier curves through a steep Alpine valley, with dark medial moraines running along its surface.

Landforms

Glacial landforms

Glacier ice flows downslope under gravity, even when its margin is retreating.

Explore the model
A physical marker of the historic Greenwich Meridian at the Royal Observatory.

Skills

Graticule and coordinates

Latitude measures an angle north or south of the equator, while longitude measures an angle east or west of the prime meridian.

Explore the model
USGS topographic map extract showing Yosemite Creek, a campground, contours and coordinate markings.

Skills

Grid references

A grid reference locates a cell using eastings followed by northings.

Explore the model
A karst spring in Alabama flows over rocks from a wooded limestone slope.

Water & Carbon

Groundwater

Groundwater fills connected pores and fractures below the water table.

Explore the model
The Hawaiian volcanic islands stretch across the Pacific beneath scattered white clouds in an ISS photograph.

Interior & Plates

Hotspots

A moving plate can carry older volcanoes away from a long-lived region of melting.

Explore the model
A low grassy coastal terrace below an older cliff near Northbank.

Interior & Plates

Isostasy

Adding an ice load changes the equilibrium height of the crust.

Explore the model
People cross pale limestone blocks separated by deep joints above Malham Cove, England.

Landforms

Karst

Water containing dissolved carbon dioxide can dissolve calcite along joints and bedding planes.

Explore the model
Layered cliffs, mesas and deeply incised valleys of the Grand Canyon in evening light.

Landforms

Landform types

Elevation, relief, slope and shape describe different properties of terrain.

Explore the model
NASA Blue Marble satellite composite of Earth in an equirectangular global map.

Skills

Map projections

A map projection transfers positions from a curved surface to a plane.

Explore the model
An aerial view of the Oso landslide's bare source scar, debris path and deposits across the valley.

Landforms

Mass movement

Gravity drives a slope downhill while friction and cohesion resist movement.

Explore the model
A thin sunlit lunar crescent with crater shadows along the terminator against black space.

Planet

Moon phases and Sun–Earth–Moon geometry

Sunlight illuminates half the Moon.

Explore the model
False-colour MODIS brightness-temperature image showing the Gulf Stream and warm eddies in the North Atlantic.

Water & Carbon

Ocean currents

Surface winds and Earth’s rotation help organise subtropical ocean gyres.

Explore the model
Polygonal ground and ponds on the tundra in Noatak National Preserve, Alaska, photographed from the air.

Landforms

Periglacial landforms

Permafrost is ground that remains at or below 0 °C for at least two years.

Explore the model
Steep dark rock walls border the Almannagjá rift at Þingvellir, Iceland.

Interior & Plates

Plate boundaries

At divergent boundaries plates separate, at convergent boundaries they approach, and at transform boundaries they slide past.

Explore the model
Hawaiian islands with greener windward slopes, drier leeward slopes and silvery sunglint on the Pacific.

Atmosphere

Rain shadow

Rising air expands and cools.

Explore the model
The Wutach flows through a narrow, wooded gorge below exposed rock walls in the Black Forest.

Landforms

River capture

Headward erosion can extend one river into a neighbouring basin and divert its headwaters.

Explore the model
False-colour Landsat image of the Lena Delta with many branching distributaries and islands.

Landforms

River deposition

Sediment is deposited when transport conditions no longer keep it moving.

Explore the model
Rounded potholes cut into dark bedrock beside flowing water in the Presque Isle River, Michigan.

Landforms

River erosion

Flowing water can detach and transport material from a river’s bed and banks.

Explore the model
The muddy Ucayali River winds through forest in Peru, with abandoned bends beside the active channel.

Landforms

River long profile

A river’s long profile usually becomes gentler downstream.

Explore the model
Floodwater from the Stillaguamish River surrounds a picnic table and trees.

Water & Carbon

River regime

A river regime describes the seasonal pattern of discharge.

Explore the model
A rounded specimen of augen gneiss with pale mineral eyes enclosed in dark, folded bands.

Soils & Rocks

Rock cycle

Rocks can change through melting, crystallisation, weathering, deposition, burial and metamorphism.

Explore the model
Rounded pillow lava on a fissured seafloor at the Galápagos Rift, photographed by a NOAA expedition.

Interior & Plates

Seafloor spreading

New oceanic crust forms at a spreading ridge and moves away on both sides.

Explore the model
Field photographs of red and black soils at different positions on the Addi Selam hillslope in Ethiopia.

Soils & Rocks

Soil catena

Soils along a slope are linked by movement of water and sediment.

Explore the model
Bare eroded soil with small gullies on a hillslope near Charters Towers, Queensland.

Soils & Rocks

Soil erosion

Raindrops and flowing water can detach and carry soil.

Explore the model
An exposed soil profile beneath woodland at Wuhlheide in Berlin, with a measuring tape against the face.

Soils & Rocks

Soil profile

A soil profile exposes horizons formed by organic inputs, weathering and material movement.

Explore the model
National Park Service soil scientists examine a freshly sampled soil profile and record its texture.

Soils & Rocks

Soil texture triangle

Soil texture describes the proportions of sand, silt and clay.

Explore the model
A spherical sundial with hour markings and a movable gnomon at Green's Windmill, Nottingham.

Planet

Solar altitude and sun path

Solar altitude is the Sun’s angle above the horizon.

Explore the model
Saturn and its broad rings in a natural-colour mosaic photographed by the Cassini spacecraft.

Planet

Solar system

Planets differ enormously in size, orbital distance and period.

Explore the model
A streamflow-gauging station beside Huey Creek in Antarctica's rocky McMurdo Dry Valleys.

Water & Carbon

Storm hydrograph

A storm hydrograph shows how river discharge changes after rainfall.

Explore the model
An aerial view of damaged buildings and washed-over land on the Bolivar Peninsula after Hurricane Ike.

Hazards

Storm surge

Onshore winds push water towards the coast, while lower atmospheric pressure also raises the water surface.

Explore the model
Extreme-ultraviolet observation of the full Sun showing bright active regions, displayed in yellow.

Planet

Sun and Earth

The same sunlight spreads across a larger area when it strikes a surface at a shallow angle.

Explore the model
Parallel rows of clouds extend from sea ice across open water in the Bering Sea.

Atmosphere

Thermal circulation

Unequal heating can create pressure differences and a circulation.

Explore the model
Circular plates of new pancake ice cover the surface of the western Ross Sea in Antarctica.

Water & Carbon

Thermohaline conveyor

Seawater density depends on temperature and salinity.

Explore the model
GOES-East satellite view of the Americas with tropical cloud bands and midlatitude weather systems.

Atmosphere

Three-cell circulation

Unequal solar heating and Earth’s rotation organise broad atmospheric circulation.

Explore the model
A fishing boat rests on exposed mud beside a wharf at low tide in Nova Scotia.

Planet

Tides

The Moon’s gravitational attraction varies across Earth, creating a tide-generating effect with two broad bulges.

Explore the model
The clear eye and tall spiral cloud walls of Hurricane Isabel, photographed from the ISS.

Hazards

Tropical cyclone

A tropical cyclone draws moist air inward near the surface, with strong ascent in the eyewall and outflow aloft.

Explore the model
Debris, damaged buildings and inundated land at a fishing port near Kesennuma after the 2011 tsunami.

Hazards

Tsunami

A tsunami has a long wavelength and travels faster in deeper water.

Explore the model
A Hubble mosaic of Andromeda's bright central region, dark dust lanes and densely packed stars.

Planet

Universe scale

Distances within the Solar System are commonly measured in astronomical units; distances between stars are more conveniently measured in light-years.

Explore the model
An arching orange lava fountain erupts from a vent on Kīlauea amid dark cooling lava.

Hazards

Volcanoes

Magma composition, gas content and the conditions of ascent influence eruption style.

Explore the model
Wisps of low fog rise above a calm lake on a frosty morning, with trees reflected in the water.

Water & Carbon

Water cycle stores and flows

Water moves between the atmosphere, land and ocean through evaporation, precipitation and flows at and below the surface.

Explore the model
Rounded remnants of granite emerge from loose weathered material in an exposed rock profile.

Soils & Rocks

Weathering

Weathering changes rock in place.

Explore the model
Meteosat view of Earth's day–night boundary on the December solstice, with more of the Southern Hemisphere in daylight.

Planet

Why seasons happen

Earth’s tilted axis changes the angle of sunlight and the length of the day as Earth travels around the Sun.

Explore the model
Long fault-bounded valleys and escarpments in Kenya's East African Rift, viewed from the ISS.

Interior & Plates

Wilson cycle

Continental rifting can open an ocean basin, while subduction can later consume oceanic lithosphere and bring continents together.

Explore the model
Crescent-shaped dunes around Lagoa dos Barros on Brazil's Atlantic coast, seen from the ISS.

Landforms

Wind landforms

Wind transports particles by suspension, saltation and surface creep.

Explore the model
An orange windsock extends above a field beside the path to Green Lane Farm.

Atmosphere

Wind, PGF and Coriolis

Air accelerates in response to pressure differences.

Explore the model