GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Geologists have hypothesized that the movement of tectonic plates is related to convection currents in the earth’s mantle. Convection currents describe the rising, spread, and sinking of gas, liquid, or molten material caused by the application of heat.

Detailed explanation-2: -Convection currents are identified in Earth’s mantle. Heated mantle material is shown rising from deep inside the mantle, while cooler mantle material sinks, creating a convection current. It is thought that this type of current is responsible for the movements of the plates of Earth’s crust.

Detailed explanation-3: -The geological theory that states that pieces of Earth’s lithosphere are in constant, slow motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle is plate tectonics.

Detailed explanation-4: -The energy source for plate tectonics is Earth’s internal heat while the forces moving the plates are the “ridge push” and “slab pull” gravity forces. It was once thought that mantle convection could drive plate motions.

Detailed explanation-5: -It was Holmes, in 1919, who suggested the mechanism: that the continents are carried by flow of the mantle on which they sit, and that the mantle is flowing because it is convecting.