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Teachers' Domain - Digital Media for the Classroom and Professional Development Search Teachers' Domain Go User: My Folders Loading... Create a new folder Upload Media My Groups No groups created yet. Create a new Group Join a Group My Profile HELP | SIGN OUT Please sign in for full access This Teachers' Domain feature requires registration, which is simple, safe, and free. Register Now Citation "Great Ocean Conveyor Belt: Part II." Teachers' Domain. 17 Dec. 2005. Web. 3 Feb. 2012. .

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Signing in now will connect your and Teachers' Domain accounts, so that in the future you will automatically be signed into Teachers' Domain when you come from . Great Ocean Conveyor Belt: Part II Resource for Grades 6-12 | Citation Media Type: Audio Running Time: 4m 36s Size: 1.1 MB View or Download SAVE TO FOLDER Loading... Save Cancel Share | Source: National Public Radio, Inc. Audio courtesy of National Public Radio, Inc. on the Web at www.npr.org. Resource Produced by: Collection Developed by: Collection Credits Collection Funded by: Related Resources: Examine Global Surface Currents (Interactive) Great Ocean Conveyor Belt: Part I (Image)   See Also: National K -12 Subject: Air-Sea Interactions Energy in the Earth System Energy Transfer Ocean Characteristics Lesson Plans Using this Resource: Melting Ice A very important but little-known network of currents constantly circulates the water in Earth's oceans. What's more, these currents redistribute heat, moving it from the tropics toward the poles, and keeping some regions far more habitable than they would be otherwise. In this audio segment from National Public Radio, scientists discuss the hypothesis that global warming might be causing the Great Ocean Conveyor to slow, and may ultimately cause it to shut down. Permitted use: Download Only Supplemental Media Available: Great Ocean Conveyor Belt: Part II (Transcript) (Document) Accessibility Features: Caption Background Essay You may not think much about it, but ocean water off the coast of Portland, Maine, or Sydney, Australia, is not the same water that lapped the shores of these locations a year ago. In fact, in recent millennia that water has been to the furthest reaches of the planet and back many times due to the motion of a great ocean conveyor belt. Known as the thermohaline conveyor, this conveyor belt circulates ocean water around the globe, and in the process redistributes heat and nutrients. Many scientists consider the thermohaline conveyor essential to a healthy ocean ecosystem and to the stability of Earth's climate. The unequal distribution of solar radiation on Earth's surface is one of the most important factors in the conveyor's circulation. The Sun warms surface water near the equator. This warm water then moves as a current from the tropics toward higher latitudes, where it cools and transfers its heat to the atmosphere. One such current, known as the Gulf Stream, originates in the Gulf of Mexico and carries warm water across the northern Atlantic Ocean. The heat it releases helps to keep northwest Europe warmer than other regions at the same latitude. Water moving northward in the conveyor cools, and as a result it becomes denser than the warmer water arriving from the tropics behind it. The formation of sea ice at high latitudes also affects the density of water. As ice forms at the ocean surface, salt ions are left behind, increasing their concentration in the liquid water below. Because salt ions have more mass than water molecules, any increase in their concentration increases the solution's density. Colder and saltier, this dense water begins to sink. Warm water from the tropics moves in to replace it at the surface, and it, too, begins to cool. The cold water descends to the ocean bottom where it forms what oceanographers call the North Atlantic Deep Water, a mass of water that fills most of the deep Atlantic basin. This water moves sluggishly southward until it joins a similar mass called the Antarctic Bottom Water. Here, the conveyor splits in two, with one branch circling Antarctica and then moving on to the ocean south of Australia, and the other branch heading north, up the east coast of Africa. In the Indian Ocean, it warms and rises to the surface, where it warms even more and provides moisture for monsoon rains. This warm water then swings back and joins the other surface currents flowing in from the Pacific. Together, they pass the Cape of Good Hope and head north, past the west coast of Africa and Europe, toward Iceland in the North Atlantic, where the 1,000-year journey begins again. Print Background Essay Discussion Questions Compare the density of warm and cold water. Which sinks and which floats closer to the surface? How does the density of the water affect the ocean "conveyor belt?" Explain how the addition of freshwater to the oceans in the North Atlantic could change the circulation of the ocean's currents. Explain how global warming is affecting the normal flow of seawater and how the flow of water can change weather patterns. Explain how global warming might result in the cooling of some parts of the world. 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