The slow, large-scale circulation of solid but slowly flowing mantle rock, driven by heat escaping the Earth's core and interior, in currents that rise where mantle material is hot and buoyant and sink where it has cooled and thickened. Mantle convection is the underlying engine widely credited with driving the motion of the tectonic plates riding above it.
Facts
Process Type Timescaleon the order of 50 million years per shallow convection cycle, closer to 200 million years for deeper convection 1 Mantle Convection
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1. Mantle convection - Wikipedia
Planform and vigour of convection section, tectonic plate motion sentence
On a global scale, surface expression of this convection is the tectonic plate motions and therefore has speeds of a few cm per year.
Planform and vigour of convection section, cycle duration sentence
A single shallow convection cycle takes on the order of 50 million years, though deeper convection can be closer to 200 million years.
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