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Thermohaline circulation (THC) is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The adjective thermohaline derives from thermo- referring to temperature and -haline referring to salt content , factors which together determine the density of sea ...
Winds drive ocean currents in the upper 100 meters of the ocean's surface. However, ocean currents also flow thousands of meters below the surface. These deep-ocean currents are driven by differences in the water's density, which is controlled by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline). This process is known as thermohaline circulation.
Thermohaline circulation (properly described as meridional overturning circulation) of the world's oceans involves the flow of warm surface waters from the southern hemisphere into the North Atlantic. Water flowing northward becomes modified through evaporation and mixing with other water masses, leading to increased salinity.
The collapse of critical ocean circulation could bring major droughts and freezing temperatures across Europe
The Thermohaline Circulation is part of the global ocean circulation. Although this phenomenon is not fully understood yet, it is known that its driving processes are thermohaline forcing and turbulent mixing. [26]
Thermohaline circulation transports not only massive volumes of warm and cold water across the planet, but also dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic carbon and other nutrients such as iron. [2] Thus, both halves of the circulation have a great effect on Earth's energy budget and oceanic carbon cycle , and so play an essential role in the Earth's ...
Downwelling has important implications for marine life. ... Notably, convection is the driving force behind global thermohaline circulation. For a water parcel to ...
In addition, climate modeling shows that the amount of meltwater and the pathway of meltwater are both important in perturbing the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation. [ 24 ] The initial meltwater pulse caused between 0.5 and 4 m (1 ft 8 in and 13 ft 1 in) of sea-level rise .