Adriana Hernandez
Leticia Mendez
Francisco Alejo
Team Cycle A: The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt
1. Read and analyze the scenario and situation
a. Team members read and analyzed the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt and Abrupt
Climate Change
b. Each team member formed their opinions on the situation of the scenario and
came to the following conclusions.
2. List your personal understanding, ideas, or hunches
With the threat of Global Warming, our team has been asked to analyze the changes in
flow patterns noted in Russian River discharge, ocean temperatures and freshwater melt
from Greenland’s ice sheets. We are to use the ESS perspective to find the likelihood of
the collapse of the Great Ocean Conveyor and the impact it could have on the United
States.
Adriana Hernandez
The earth is being threatened by Global Warming. The hole in the ozone layer is
getting bigger and bigger because of our lack of responsibility towards the earth’s
atmosphere by using chemicals that cause harm. If the Earth gets warmer and warmer,
the ice in the polar areas will melt and cause temperature changes in the ocean water. If
that happens, the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt will slow down or stop and can cause
abrupt climate changes on Earth.
Leticia Mendez
This scenario is explaining how the currents affect the climate changes around the
world. Different people over the years have come up with their own measuring system
to measure the heat and salinity of the ocean and which way the currents are going.
These people are Benjamin Franklin, who in 1770 published his Gulf Stream Chart, and
Henry Ellis, who rigged his own makeshift bucket with flaps and lowered it down a
mile to find that the water was very cold. Then others followed along like Benjamin
Thompson who in 1797 suggested that the cold water at depth came from the Polar
Regions. And finally in 1987 Walter Broecker’s seminal article about the Great Ocean
conveyer, described what came to be known as the thermo-haline circulation system.
(The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt andAbrupt Climate Change: Cycle A, 2007)
Francisco Alejo
For many years we have been studying the effects and changes in weather. With the
global warming issue becoming more in the interest of many world leaders, it becomes
important to study the effect the current temperatures in the ocean have in the world
weather. The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt is designed to understand the deep sea’s
water circulation system. The Thermohaline circulation system (THC) described by
Walter Broecker in the article the Great Ocean Conveyor is the relationship between the
water its salt density and the temperature. Data analysis proves that when the ocean
conveyor belt stops or slows down dramatic changes in weather occur.
Adriana Hernandez
Leticia Mendez
Francisco Alejo
3. List what is known
 Benjamin Franklin published his Gulf Stream Chart in 1770. He was taking temperature
readings to figure out the path of the ocean currents. (The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt
and Abrupt Climate Change: Cycle A, 2007)
 Henry Ellis published his Gulf Stream Chart in 1751. He was the captain of a slave ship
and he would take water temperatures by dropping a bucket a mile deep. He found out
that the temperature below the surface was very cold. (The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt
and Abrupt Climate Change: Cycle A, 2007)
 Walter Broecker wrote an article in 1987 that discussed the “thermohaline circulation
system” which described that the water’s density was determined by the water’s
temperature and salinity. That helps the circuit because as the water travels and it goes
up higher or down lower because of its density. (The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt and
Abrupt Climate Change: Cycle A, 2007)
 Global Warming can cause huge ice sheets to melt and raising the water temperature.
Once that happens, more water will evaporate. In turn that will cause more rain and
snow that could cause flooding and blizzards. (The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt and
Abrupt Climate Change: Cycle A, 2007)
 A complete circuit of the system takes a thousand or more years and (Scientists can tell
how old water is -- length of time since it has been on the surface -- by analyzing the
dissolved oxygen in a water sample.) Broecker emphasized the interconnectedness of
all oceans and the role the oceans play in stabilizing world climate by redistributing
heat. He also suggested that changes in either the temperature or salinity could impact
the great conveyor belt. (Broecker, 1991)
 Benjamin Thomson wrote that the warm water would sink to the bottom of the ocean
and begin to flow toward the equator, producing a current in the opposite direction
suggesting that there are two currents, one surface and one subsurface completing a
circuit by flowing in opposite directions. (The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt and Abrupt
Climate Change: Cycle A, 2007)
 Russian Rivers and its controlling dams affect the circulation of the conveyor belt. (The
Great Ocean Conveyor Belt and Abrupt Climate Change: Cycle A, 2007)
 Abrupt weather changes occur when conveyor belt stops or slows down.. (The Great
Ocean Conveyor Belt and Abrupt Climate Change: Cycle A, 2007)
 Cold water comes from the polar regions. (The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt and Abrupt
Climate Change: Cycle A, 2007)
4. List what is unknown
 How much of the ice can melt without causing any problems to the Great
Conveyor Belt?
 What can we do to help slow down Global Warming so that this doesn’t happen?
 What will happen in the United States if the Great Conveyor Belt does stop?
 How does the conveyor belt affect the winds?
Adriana Hernandez
Leticia Mendez
Francisco Alejo
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How will we know if the Great Conveyor Belt starts slowing down?
What are scientists doing to help prevent this from happening?
What will happen if the ocean conveyor belt stops?
How does the Global Warming impact the conveyor belt?
What should be done to keep the currents moving normally
What factors are introduced by the discharge of the Russian Rivers?
Besides a seawall, what can be done to protect the shore and the towns?
What can we do to prevent global warming?
What can we do to maintain the speed of the ocean conveyor belt constant?
How long will it take to see the effects if conveyor belt stopped?
What should we teach our children in order to provide a more weather stable world for
generations to come?
5. List what needs to be done
a. Gather information from all resources available
b. Analyze collected data
6. Develop a problem statement
The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt transports warm surface water to high latitude where the
water warms the air, then cools, sinks and returns towards the equator as a deep flow. The
Great Ocean Conveyor Belt is slowing down due to the rise of global temperatures. If the
Ocean Conveyor Belt comes to a halt what type of abrupt climate changes are expected to
occur, how does the Global Warming impact the conveyor belt through these changes and
what can we do to prevent this from happening? (Broecker, 1991)
We chose this problem statement because we need to know what will happen if the Great
Conveyor belt does stop and we need to know if there's anything we can be doing right
now to prevent it from happening.
7. Gather Information
Collect data from resources
8. Present findings: Cycle B
Adriana Hernandez
Leticia Mendez
Francisco Alejo
Work Cited
Benjamin Franklin - Weather Wise. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2011, from PBS Inquiring Mind:
http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/13_inquiring_weather.html
Dunphy, M. (2011, August 22). Newly Discovered Icelandic Current Could Lead To Climate Cooling.
Retrieved from Ascending Starseed 2012 The Awakening:
http://ascendingstarseed.wordpress.com/category/earth-changes/blizzards/cold-weather/
Rahmstorf, S. (2006). The Thermohaline Ocean Circulation. Retrieved from Potsdam Institure for Climate
Impact Research: http://www.pik-potsdam.de/~stefan/thc_fact_sheet.html
The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt andAbrupt Climate Change: Cycle A. (2007, October 14). Retrieved
November 20, 2011, from ESSEA:
http://esseacourses.strategies.org/private/learner.module.php?course_id=397&coursemodule_id=932
&cycle=A&cycle_label=10