Fig. 4: Mass balance model assessing crust-mantle differentiation, to evaluate the validity of the our estimated δ^98/95Mo of the bulk continental crust.

Crustal mass can subsequently be translated into a corresponding volume of crust (V_C) relative to the volume of present crust (V_PC), with variations depending on the fraction of the bulk silicate Earth (BSE) that has experienced melt depletion (M_DM/M_BSE). Two models were tested: (1) only continental crust (a) and; (2) considering both continental and oceanic crust (b). Previously estimated crustal [Mo]¹ and [Mo]² are from Rudnick and Gao³⁷ and Taylor and McLennan⁴⁸, respectively. In (a), the dotted lines represent those calculate using only the compiled [Mo] of intrusive rocks. Shapes represent different crustal depth models from Rudnick and Gao³⁷ (circle), Huang et al.⁴¹ (diamond) and Hacker et al.⁴⁰ (triangle). In (b), the y-axis labeled “Mass of crust” is applicable only to the results of the continental and oceanic crust model, continental crust only model (from a; darker colors) are shown for comparison.