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Not only does the temperature differ in seawater, so does the salinity. Warm surface water is generally saltier than the cooler deep or polar waters. [1] In polar regions, the upper layers of ocean water are cold and fresh. [2] Deep ocean water is cold, salty water found deep below the surface of Earth's oceans.
Visualization of the ice and snow covering Earth's northern and southern polar regions Northern Hemisphere permafrost (permanently frozen ground) in purple. The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles.
Instead ocean deep water is formed in polar regions where cold salty waters sink in fairly restricted areas. This is the beginning of the thermohaline circulation . Oceanic currents are largely driven by the surface wind stress; hence the large-scale atmospheric circulation is important to understanding the ocean circulation.
Antarctic Convergence. The Antarctic Convergence or Antarctic Polar Front is a marine belt encircling Antarctica, varying in latitude seasonally, where cold, northward-flowing Antarctic waters meet the relatively warmer waters of the sub-Antarctic.
A new thermocline develops where the densest water (4 °C (39 °F)) sinks to the bottom, and the less dense water (water that is approaching the freezing point) rises to the top. Once this new stratification establishes itself, it lasts until the water warms enough for the 'spring turnover,' which occurs after the ice melts and the surface ...
Deep ocean water (DOW) is the name for cold, salty water found in the deep sea, starting at 200 m (660 ft) below the surface of Earth's oceans. Ocean water differs in temperature and salinity. Warm surface water is generally saltier than the cooler deep or polar waters; [1] in polar regions, the upper layers of ocean water are cold and fresh. [2]
Idealised depiction (at equinox) of large-scale atmospheric circulation on Earth Long-term mean precipitation by month. Atmospheric circulation is the large-scale movement of air and together with ocean circulation is the means by which thermal energy is redistributed on the surface of the Earth. The Earth's atmospheric circulation varies from ...
Feedbacks associated with sea ice and snow cover are widely cited as one of the principal causes of terrestrial polar amplification. [12] [13] [14] These feedbacks are particularly noted in local polar amplification, [15] although recent work has shown that the lapse rate feedback is likely equally important to the ice-albedo feedback for Arctic amplification. [16]