Editing Openai/6946e998-79f0-8007-9a65-19828450838d (section)

=== Geodynamic models show that the earliest 200–500 million years of a terrestrial planet’s history dictate whether plate tectonics becomes self-sustaining. ===

Key differences:
* Venus received ~1.9× modern Earth’s solar flux from the beginning.
* It was closer to the runaway-greenhouse threshold from day zero.
* Even slight differences in outgassing, mantle hydration, volcanic style, or timing of magma ocean solidification produce diverging outcomes.

Venus likely dried out before plate tectonics could take hold.
Earth established plate tectonics before losing water to the upper atmosphere.

That sequence matters enormously: once plate tectonics begins, it helps stabilize climate; once climate stabilizes, plate tectonics becomes easier to maintain.

Venus missed that feedback window.