AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -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.

Detailed explanation-2: -One section moves into the Indian Ocean, the other into the Pacific Ocean. These two sections that split off warm up and become less dense as they travel northward toward the equator, so that they rise to the surface (upwelling).

Detailed explanation-3: -This water is known as the North Atlantic Deep Water, and it is one of the primary driving forces of the conveyor belt. The force of the sinking, cold water pushes the existing North Atlantic Deep Water south, toward Antarctica, in a slow-moving underwater current.

Detailed explanation-4: -The ocean circulation conveyor belt helps balance climate. As part of the ocean conveyor belt, warm water from the tropical Atlantic moves poleward near the surface where it gives up some of its heat to the atmosphere. This process partially moderates the cold temperatures at higher latitudes.

Detailed explanation-5: -The global conveyor belt is a system of ocean currents that transport water around the world. While wind primarily propels surface currents, deep currents are driven by differences in water densities in a process called thermohaline circulation.