Showing posts with label Conveyor Belt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conveyor Belt. Show all posts

Gulf Stream is slowing down faster than ever, scientists say | March 23, 2015

Source: independent.co.uk













The Gulf Stream that helps to keep Britain from freezing over in winter is slowing down faster now than at any time in the past millennium according to a study suggesting that major changes are taking place to the ocean currents of the North Atlantic. Read more at: independent.co.uk

What is the global ocean conveyor belt?

Source: oceanservice.noaa.gov









The great ocean conveyor moves water around the globe.

The ocean is not a still body of water. There is constant motion in the ocean in the form of a global ocean conveyor belt. This motion is caused by a combination of thermohaline currents (thermo = temperature; haline = salinity) in the deep ocean and wind-driven currents on the surface. Cold, salty water is dense and sinks to the bottom of the ocean while warm water is less dense and remains on the surface.

The ocean conveyor gets its “start” in the Norwegian Sea, where warm water from the Gulf Stream heats the atmosphere in the cold northern latitudes. This loss of heat to the atmosphere makes the water cooler and denser, causing it to sink to the bottom of the ocean. As more warm water is transported north, the cooler water sinks and moves south to make room for the incoming warm water. This cold bottom water flows south of the equator all the way down to Antarctica. Eventually, the cold bottom waters returm to the surface through mixing and wind-driven upwelling, continuing the conveyor belt that encircles the globe.
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