What moves tectonic plates?

What moves tectonic plates?

• A. Gravity
• B. Convection Currents
• C. Radiation
• D. Heat Transfer

Answer: (B)

Mantle convection currents move tectonic plates. The lithosphere rests on the semi-fluid asthenosphere, and heat from the interior causes mantle rock to rise when it’s hot and less dense and to sink when it cools and becomes denser. This steady, circular moving of mantle material creates slow, persistent drag on the base of the tectonic plates, causing them to diverge at some boundaries and converge or subduct at others. Gravity can influence how slabs sink, but it isn’t the primary cause of plate motion; radiation isn’t the mechanism at work in the mantle. Heat transfer in the mantle happens mainly through convection, and that convection is what drives the movement of the plates.

Mantle convection currents move tectonic plates. The lithosphere rests on the semi-fluid asthenosphere, and heat from the interior causes mantle rock to rise when it’s hot and less dense and to sink when it cools and becomes denser. This steady, circular moving of mantle material creates slow, persistent drag on the base of the tectonic plates, causing them to diverge at some boundaries and converge or subduct at others. Gravity can influence how slabs sink, but it isn’t the primary cause of plate motion; radiation isn’t the mechanism at work in the mantle. Heat transfer in the mantle happens mainly through convection, and that convection is what drives the movement of the plates.