Interpretation plays a central role in using scientific models to explain natural phenomena: Meaning must be bestowed upon a model in terms of what it is and what it represents to be used for model explanations. However, it remains unclear how capacious and complex interpretation in models can be, particularly when conducted by the same group of scientists in the context of one explanatory project. This paper sheds light upon this question by examining modelling and explanatory practices related to the Olami-Feder-Christensen model of earthquakes. This case study shows that various interpretations are intricately connected in the overall meaning of a model used for model explanations. This leads to a manifold picture of interpretation, according to which scientific models are construed as networks of interconnected meanings. As scientists ponder and integrate these various interpretations, guided by locally attended epistemic interests, they achieve model explanations with layers of content, both in their explanantia and explananda.

解释在使用科学模型解释自然现象中起着核心作用：必须根据模型是什么以及它代表什么来赋予模型意义，以用于模型解释。然而，目前尚不清楚模型的解释有多广泛和复杂，特别是当由同一组科学家在一个解释性项目的背景下进行时。本文通过研究与奥拉米-费德-克里斯滕森地震模型相关的建模和解释实践，阐明了这个问题。该案例研究表明，在用于模型解释的模型的整体含义中，各种解释错综复杂地联系在一起。这导致了多种解释，根据这种解释，科学模型被解释为相互关联的意义的网络。当科学家在当地关注的认知兴趣的指导下思考和整合这些不同的解释时，他们在解释和解释中都获得了具有多层内容的模型解释。