Definition: Large-scale density-driven circulation in the ocean, caused by differences in temperature and salinity. In the north Atlantic, the thermohaline circulation consists of warm surface water flowing northward and cold deepwater flowing southward, resulting in a net poleward transport of heat.
Why is it called the thermohaline circulation?
The adjective thermohaline derives from thermo- referring to temperature and -haline referring to salt content, factors which together determine the density of sea water. The thermohaline circulation is sometimes called the ocean conveyor belt, the great ocean conveyor, or the global conveyor belt.
What is the general pattern of thermohaline circulation?
Sometimes called the thermohaline conveyor belt, this circulation pattern moves cold water around the globe in deep water currents and warmer water in surface currents. A single molecule of water being transported by thermohaline circulation may take a thousand years to move completely throughout the Earth’s oceans.
What are the two processes of thermohaline circulation?
It is the movement of these density layers that create the deep water circulation. Since seawater density depends mainly on temperature and salinity (section 6.3), this circulation is referred to as thermohaline circulation . The main processes that increase seawater density are cooling, evaporation, and ice formation.
What does thermohaline mean in root words?
Of or relating to the effects of temperature and salinity on the large-scale circulation of oceanic waters. [thermo- + Greek halinos, of salt (from hals, hal-, salt; see halo-).]
What is thermohaline convection?
[¦thər·mō′hā‚līn kən′vek·shən] (oceanography) Vertical water movement observed when sea water, due to conditions of decreasing temperature or increasing salinity, becomes heavier than the water beneath it.
Where is the thermohaline?
The basic thermohaline circulation is one of sinking of cold water in the polar regions, chiefly in the northern North Atlantic and near Antarctica. These dense water masses spread into the full extent of the ocean and gradually upwell to feed a slow return flow to the sinking regions.
What does the thermohaline circulation do?
Thermohaline circulation plays an important role in supplying heat to the polar regions. Therefore, it influences the rate of sea ice formation near the poles, which in turn affects other aspects of the climate system (such as the albedo, and thus solar heating, at high latitudes).
Why is thermohaline circulation important?
What is thermohaline circulation and how does it work?
What does the thermohaline cycle do?
