_______ currents are responsible for powering the movement of tectonic plates.
When the current cools down more, the convection current descends again and goes to the inner earth. There the temperature increases and the current rises again. This goes on and on. The heat of the Earth's core is a mixture of two sources. The first is the. initial heat from the formation of the planet. Subduction of Plates. Because ocean plates are denser than continental plates, when these two types of plates converge, the ocean plates are subducted beneath the continental plates. Subduction zones and trenches are convergent margins. The collision of plates is often accompanied by earthquakes and volcanoes. Convection currents move tectonic plates when there is heat inside the mantle that is rising and falling. The radioactive decay in the core is responsible for the convection currents. How is the Earth's crust related to tectonic movement? The convection currents in tectonic plates occur in the geosphere. The radioactive decay of elements is responsible for the heat deep within the earth, and this results in the creation of magma. Magma is a type of material that can be semi-fluid or completely fluid. Large convection currents in the aesthenosphere transfer heat to the surface, where plumes of less dense magma break apart the plates at the spreading centers, creating divergent plate boundaries. Actually the newest theory on the movement of the plates is not because of convection but the subducting slab pulling apart the plates, where it pulls them apart new crust forms at mid-ocean ridges. The heat in the center of the earth comes from both pressure and radioactive decay. Source(s): I am a geologist. Focus Question: What is the source of energy for convection currents in the geosphere? Convection currents in the magma drive plate tectonics. Heat generated from the radioactive decay of elements deep in the interior of the Earth creates magma (molten rock) in the aesthenosphere. The aesthenosphere (70 ~ 250 km) is part of the mantle, the middle sphere of the Earth that extends to 2900 km. Convection currents are movements in (and of) the liquid part of our earth due to differences in temperature. The warm rises and the cool sinks. But the cool which has sank will be heated (the heater, the core, is at the bottom) and the warm, which has risen, will be cooled. What causes the tectonic plates to move? The convection currents in tectonic plates occur in the geosphere. The radioactive decay of elements is responsible for the heat deep within the earth, and this results in the creation of magma. Magma is a type of material that can be semi-fluid or completely fluid. Best Answer: Because the earth is very hot inside, a current of heat flows from the core to the crust. This is called convection current and it also takes place in the mantle. This current cools down as it comes closer to the surface of the earth.
Convection