Based on the provided information, convection currents cause convergent boundaries because these boundaries are specifically the locations where mantle convection currents move downward.
In the Earth's mantle, vast convection currents transfer heat from the core towards the surface. These currents involve the slow but significant movement of mantle material. While diverging boundaries are where the convection currents move upwards, converging boundaries are where convention current move downward.
This downward movement of the mantle current plays a crucial role in the dynamics of convergent boundaries. As the reference explains, When a ocean plate meets a continental plate in a convergent boundary the mantle current carrying the ocean plate is forced downward. This descent of the mantle current pulls or forces the lithospheric plates downwards, often resulting in a process called subduction, where one plate slides beneath another.
Therefore, the downward motion of the convection currents in the mantle is intrinsically linked to and drives the interactions characteristic of convergent plate boundaries, where plates collide and one is often consumed back into the mantle.
- Key Process at Convergent Boundaries (Based on Reference):
- Mantle convection currents move downward.
- Oceanic plates (carried by these currents) are forced downward when meeting continental plates.
