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Thermohaline circulation. 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 ...
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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.
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: Density differences drive the thermohaline circulation, also known as the global "conveyor belt," which plays a crucial role in regulating Earth's climate. Cold, dense water formed in the polar regions sinks and moves along the ocean floor toward the equator, while warmer surface waters flow poleward to replace it.
A subsurface ocean current is an oceanic current that runs beneath surface currents. [1] Examples include the Equatorial Undercurrents of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, the California Undercurrent, [2] and the Agulhas Undercurrent, [3] the deep thermohaline circulation in the Atlantic, and bottom gravity currents near Antarctica.
Aside from the oscillatory motions associated with tidal flow, there are two primary causes of large scale flow in the ocean: (1) thermohaline processes, which induce motion by introducing changes at the surface in temperature and salinity, and therefore in seawater density, and (2) wind forcing.
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.