Interaction Tools
Click and hold on the Core-Mantle Boundary (bottom) to add heat sources, or on the Lithosphere (top) to add heat sinks (cooling).
Parameters
High
Medium
Legend
Hot, less dense rock (Rising)
Warm rock
Intermediate rock
Cold, denser rock (Sinking)
Surface Plates
Core (Heat Source)
Observation: Watch how heat from the core (bottom) makes the mantle material less dense, causing it to rise. At the surface (lithosphere), the material cools, becomes denser, and sinks back down. These convection currents pull on the surface plates, driving plate tectonics (sea-floor spreading and subduction).