What causes the Earth’s plates to move?

The movement of Earth’s tectonic plates is caused by convection currents in the mantle. As heat from Earth’s core causes the mantle to rise and cool, it creates currents that drag the plates along. These currents push the plates in different directions, causing them to converge, diverge, or slide past one another. The interactions between the plates at boundaries create geological features like mountains, earthquakes, and volcanoes.