section_path: Driving forces of plate motion/Driving forces related to mantle dynamics/Surge tectonics
section_name: Surge tectonics
paragraph_text: Surge tectonics
  
  Another theory is that the mantle flows neither in cells nor large plumes but rather as a series of channels just below Earth's crust, which then provide basal friction to the lithosphere. This theory, called "surge tectonics", was popularized during the 1980s and 1990s. Recent research, based on three-dimensional computer modelling, suggests that plate geometry is governed by a feedback between mantle convection patterns and the strength of the lithosphere.