[Music] today we're diving into the fascinating world of convection currents a key process driving the movement of tectonic plates and causing continental drift I'll break it down into simple steps to help you understand how these powerful forces shape our planet Step One is heat from the Earth's core the Journey Begins deep deep within the Earth the core generates heat through radioactive decay and residual heat from the planet's formation this heat rises towards the mantle the layer above the core step two is then mantle convection as the heat rises it creates convection currents in the semi-solid mantle these currents are similar to the way water moves when heated in a pot the hot mantle material r es towards the Earth's cross while the cooler material sinks back down step three is movement of tectonic plates the convection currents in the mantle create drag on the overlying tectonic plates causing them to move these plates can move away from each other Divergent move towards each other convergent or slide past each other transform step four is Continental d drift this movement of tectonic plates leads to Continental Drift over millions of years continents have shifted from one massive land mass called Pangia to their current positions this process continues today slowly but continuously reshaping the Earth's surface step five is geological activity the movement of tectonic plates due to convection currents also results in geological activities such as earthquakes volcanic eruptions and the formation of mountain ranges these activities are most prominent at the boundaries of tectonic plates next time you learn about earthquakes volcanoes or shifting continents remember the role of convection current in the mantle these powerful forces Drive the movement of tectonic plates and continuously reshape our planet [Music] [Music]