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Plate tectonics results from the convection of the Earth's mantle below. Convection is driven by heat from the Earth's core. The hot core creates a temperature gradient in the mantle that results in convention.

In the case of Earth the source of thermal energy comes from two sources:

a) primordial heat left over from the Earth's formation

b) radioactive decay of certain isotopes of certain elements.

In the case of Earth the most important isotope is potassium-40.

Thus the heat in the Earth's core is ultimately the power behind a vast heat engine that moves tectonic plates.

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