A discussion on the distribution pattern of tectonic stress field in northern hemisphere continental crust based on the finite element analysis

The current geomorphology of the northern hemisphere continent results from plate tectonics, which manifests the complicated dynamic mechanism.However, there is no unified stress distribution pattern at present.In this paper, a three-dimensional elastic finite element model was applied to calculating the tectonic stress field in northern hemisphere continental crust by comprehensively considering the influence of tectonic boundaries and crustal structure, which was then tested by the focal mechanism solutions.The results show that the boundary force plays a key role in the regional tectonic stress field, and the depth difference between the Moho and the equilibrium interface will contribute to the vertical tectonic stress and to changing the stress properties afterwards.Influenced by the crustal structure, the convergent and transform boundaries can also partially have high tensile stress, while the tectonic active regions tend to have large differential stress values.The current stress field of the northern hemisphere is in a transient state of the long-term crustal evolution process.The simulation results of the three-dimensional elastic spherical model are reliable and can be used as a quantitative reference for the northern hemisphere tectonic stress field analysis.