AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The conveyor belt moves at much slower speeds (a few centimeters per second) than wind-driven or tidal currents (tens to hundreds of centimeters per second). It is estimated that any given cubic meter of water takes about 1, 000 years to complete the journey along the global conveyor belt.

Detailed explanation-2: -It would take a single water molecule approximately 1, 000 years to complete one full cycle of the global conveyor belt. In that time, the water molecule would travel through the waters of all the major ocean basins: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic.

Detailed explanation-3: -The global ocean conveyor belt is a constantly moving system of deep-ocean circulation driven by temperature and salinity. 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.

Detailed explanation-4: -Through global thermohaline circulation, heat is transported from the tropics to the poles through surface currents and then cold water is transported back to the equator. By connecting ocean currents, scientists have some evidence to support what is known as the Global Conveyor Belt (SF Fig 2.9).

Detailed explanation-5: -Global climate change could disrupt the global conveyer belt, causing potentially drastic temperature changes in Europe and even worldwide. The global conveyor belt is a strong, but easily disrupted process. Research suggests that the conveyor belt may be affected by climate change.