Hotspots driving tectonic plate movement Plate tectonics has
been on the curriculum for a while now. Most people are fairly
familiar with the theory; the Earth's crust - or lithosphere -
is broken up into different plates which move around on the very
hot, viscous substance beneath. This movement is driven by the
heat of the Earth's core, causing the viscous substance beneath
the Earth's crust to flow and move the plates above, like pieces
of toast floating in a massive bowl of hot beans. Plates can
move closer together or further away from each other. Over
millions of years, these movements define our continents. Plates
coming together can form mountain ridges, whereas plates moving
away from each other can form oceans. On a smaller timescale,
plate tectonics is responsible for earthquakes, volcanoes and
tidal waves. Now, scientists at the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography have identified a new force driving plate
tectonics: plumes of hot magma swelling up from deep inside the
Earth's core, up to 2,500 kil