Encyclopedia > Global conveyor belt

  Article Content

Global conveyor belt

The term conveyor belt has been adopted to express the idea of the ocean-based elements of the climate system which transport heat. The global conveyor belt (known technically as the thermohaline circulation[?]) operates when the heat from the sun on the Atlantic Ocean is conveyed northward by currents, heating the north Atlantic. The ocean loses its heat in the very northern reaches and can become more saline due to ice production. The cold water sinks to the bottom (forming North Atlantic Deep Water) and circulates to complete the conveyor belt.

See also: downwelling, upwelling



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Islip Terrace, New York

... non-families. 13.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 4.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.21 ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 28.5 ms