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Solar Conveyor Belt

Solar Conveyor Belt
The Sun has a conveyor belt, called the meridional plasma flow, in which plasma flows along the surface toward the poles, sinks, and returns toward the equator, transporting magnetic flux along the way.

Just as Earth’s global ocean circulation transports water and heat around the planet, the Sun has a conveyor belt, called the meridional plasma flow, in which plasma flows along the surface toward the poles, sinks, and returns toward the equator, transporting magnetic flux along the way. It has two branches, north and south, each taking about 40 years to perform one complete circuit. The upper belt skims the Sun’s surface, sweeping up knots of solar magnetism (decaying sunspots) and carrying them toward the poles. The structure and strength of this meridional flow is believed to play a key role in determining the strength of the Sun’s polar magnetic field, which in turn determines the strength of the sunspot cycles.