Geodynamic modelling of the initiation of plate tectonics in a differentiating early Earth.

尽管在过去几十年里，在理解导致地球上自一致板块构造产生的物理机制方面取得了相当大的进展，但现有的模型仍然不现实，因为它们只成功地适用于小于实验约束值的屈服应力。此外，现有的模型通常不考虑部分融化和分化。在这里，我们将执行最先进的二维和三维地球动力学模型，以了解岩浆分化和地壳形成对早期温暖地球岩石圈变形风格的影响。我们的模型结合了岩石圈的实际粘弹塑性流变学、剪切加热、自由表面和主要岩石类型的热力学约束密度。系统模拟将有助于理解模型的物理特性以及模型结果对输入参数不确定性的敏感性。可检验的预测将从地球动力学模型中得出，这些模型可以与地质和岩石学的限制条件进行比较。

Whereas there has been considerable progress over the last few decades in understanding the physical mechanisms that resulted in the generation of self-consistent plate tectonics on Earth, existing models remain unrealistic as they only operate successfully for yield stresses that are smaller than experimentally constrained values. Moreover, existing models typically don't take partial melting and differentiation into account. Here we will perform state-of-the-art 2D and 3D geodynamic models in order to understand the effect of magmatic differentiation and crust formation on the lithospheric deformation styles that occurred on a warmer early Earth. Our models incorporate realistic visco-elasto-plastic rheologies for the lithosphere, shear heating, a free surface, and thermodynamically constrained densities for the main rock-types that developed. Systematic simulations will help to understand the physics of the models as well as the sensitivity of the model results to uncertainties in the input parameters. Testable predictions will be derived from the geodynamic models that can be compared with geological and petrological constraints.