What is the purpose of tectonic plates?

Tectonic plates cause many earthquakes, and can form mountains byeither rubbing against eachother, converging or diverging. It is a piece of land that moves to fit into another plate, like apuzzle. Tectonic plates are segments of the Earth's lithosphere.Interaction between tectonic plates is responsible for earthquakesand volcanic activity. read more

The Earth has tectonic plates because tectonic plates happen on objects like the Earth. They help the Earth obey the laws of physics. I don’t know all the details on why they exist. To me the idea of a “purpose” implies that someone decided that the plates should exist. read more

Plate tectonics has no purpose. In a nutshell it is the result of natural processes occurring naturally on a natural body, the Earth. It’s just how a planet, with the composition and configuration of Earth, behaves. read more