Scaling is a very hard problem[0], but it's easier in these sorts of fluid systems where the materials have a simple Newtonian viscosity and the temperatures an

Scaling is a very hard problem[0], but it's easier in these sorts of fluid systems where the materials have a simple Newtonian viscosity and the temperatures and other parameters don't change dramatically throughout the model. Contrast this with solid Earth or (I think?) atmospheric modeling, where those changes must be represented correctly by different materials. Nonetheless, for lots of problems in earth science, new computational models are still benchmarked to analog models. The other problem with analog modeling is that can be pretty hard to measure the full 3D velocity field, stresses and strains, and that sort of thing, which are explicit in computational models. Computer-aided particle tracking has made this far better for analog modelers in the past decade or two, though. [0]: A great reference for this is M King Hubbert's 1945 paper in which he considers whether it's possible to pick up the great state of Texas with a crane: https://www.depts.ttu.edu/gesc/Fac_pages/Yoshinobu/4361_5361_Folder/2013-readings/Hubbert,%201945%20Strength%20of%20Earth.pdf https://www.depts.ttu.edu/gesc/Fac_pages/Yoshinobu/4361_5361... (Hubbert is most famous among non-geologists for peak oil theory, and most famous for geologists in considering the role of pore fluid pressure during faulting).