What lies beneath plate tectonics?

Beneath plate tectonics lies the Earth's mantle, a semi-solid layer of rock that extends from the crust to the outer core. The mantle is composed of silicate minerals and is convectively active, meaning that heat from the Earth's core causes slow, churning movements. These convection currents drive the movement of tectonic plates on the surface, leading to geological phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanic activity, and the formation of mountain ranges. The interactions between these plates occur at their boundaries, where they may converge, diverge, or slide past one another.