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Bridging Spatial and Temporal Scales in Modeling Coseismic and Interseismic Crustal Deformation with PyLith

We present an overview of PyLith’s current capabilities for modeling coseismic and interseismic crustal deformation across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. PyLith is an open-source finite-element code designed for modeling earthquake faulting processes by solving partial differential equations, with faults modeled as dislocations on interior interfaces. For solving the elasticity equation PyLith includes two formulations: (1) an implicit formulation without inertia (quasistatic), which is generally used for modeling interseismic viscoelastic or elastoplastic deformation on time scales of years, and (2) an implicit-explicit formulation with inertia (dynamic), which is generally used for modeling coseismic elastic or elastoplastic deformation on the time scales of seconds. We use finite-element discretizations, time-stepping algorithms, and solvers from the Portable, Extensible Toolkit for Scientific Computation (PETSc) to provide users with scalable options for modeling deformation on spatial scales ranging from tens of meters to hundreds of kilometers and temporal scales ranging from milliseconds to hundreds of years. Our multiphysics formulation provides flexibility in specifying a variety of physics with one or more governing equations; we have implemented elasticity, incompressible elasticity, and poroelasticity. We are currently working towards including adaptive mesh refinement capabilities to broaden the range of spatial scales modeled in a single simulation. This is also a stepping stone towards coupling the quasistatic and dynamic formulations to model earthquake cycles with propagating seismic waves during coseismic deformation and viscoelastic relaxation during interseismic deformation. PyLith is developed and distributed through the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics (https://geodynamics.org/resources/pylith) and includes source code, binary packages, online documentation (https://pylith.readthedocs.io), video tutorials, and a Docker container for software development.

Session: From Geodynamics to Earthquake Rupture, Models That Cross Time- and Length-Scales [Poster Session]

Type: Poster

Room: Exhibit Hall

Date: 5/3/2024

Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Brad Aagaard

Student Presenter: No

Additional Authors