What causes the driving force behind plate tectonics?

The driving force behind plate tectonics is attributed to convection currents within the Earth's mantle. These currents are generated by the heat produced from the Earth's core, which causes the material in the mantle to heat up, become less dense, and rise towards the surface. As this material rises, it eventually cools, becomes denser, and sinks back down. This continuous cycle creates a flow that exerts force on the tectonic plates situated above the mantle.

These convection currents play a critical role in the movement of the plates, leading to various geological phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanic activity, and the creation of mountain ranges. In contrast, magnetic reversal refers to the changes in Earth's magnetic field, uniformitarianism is the principle that processes occurring today also occurred in the past at similar rates, and continental drift is a theory proposing that continents move over geological time but does not explain the mechanism behind their movement, which is primarily driven by the convection currents in the mantle.