What is the driving force of plate tectonics?

Driving Forces of Plate Motions. Does mantle convection drive plate tectonics? After the discovery of radioactivity by Marie Curie and Henri Becquerel in 1896 it became clear that the Earth's interior would be heated by radioactive decay in the mantle and crust. Rock is a poor conductor of heat. read more

Driving forces related to mantle dynamics For much of the last quarter century, the leading theory of the driving force behind tectonic plate motions envisaged large scale convection currents in the upper mantle which are transmitted through the asthenosphere. read more

Plate tectonics is the idea that the surface of the Earth is made up of plates and these move relative to each other, this includes continents. And now to talk about why plates are actually moving, we need to understand about convection. read more

After the discovery of radioactivity by Marie Curie and Henri Becquerel in 1896 it became clear that the Earth's interior would be heated by radioactive decay in the mantle and crust. read more