The statement that best explores what drives the processes of plate tectonics is: "The movement of tectonic plates is primarily driven by the convection currents in the Earth's mantle."
The movement of Earth's tectonic plates is primarily driven by convection currents in the mantle, which is the layer of hot, molten rock beneath the Earth's crust. These convection currents are the result of heat transfer from radioactive decay in the Earth's core and from the heat released by the cooling of the mantle over time. As the hot rock rises due to convection, it spreads out laterally beneath the Earth's surface, causing the plates above to move apart. As the cooled rock sinks back down into the mantle, it pulls the plates along with it, leading to various plate interactions such as divergent boundaries, convergent boundaries, and transform boundaries.
