Large-scale global ocean circulation driven by variations in the temperature and salinity of water masses. Cooled and saline waters downwell at high latitudes (off the coast of Norway and Greenland). Waters warmed in the Tropics upwell to the surface, where they are cooled, and so on. It is estimated that a single water molecule takes about 1,000 years to complete the circuit.
circulation in the ocean that is driven by the density of differences caused by temperature and salinity. Thermohaline circulation predominates over wind-driven circulation in most estuaries and deeper parts of the ocean.
A three-dimensional pattern of ocean circulation driven by wind, heat and salinity that is an important component of the ocean-atmosphere climate system. In the Atlantic, winds transport warm tropical surface water northward where it cools, becomes more dense, and sinks into the deep ocean, at which point it reverses direction and migrates back to the tropics, where it eventually warms and returns to the surface. This cycle or "conveyor belt" is a major mechanism for the global transport of heat, and thus has an important influence on the climate. Global warming is projected to increase sea-surface temperatures, which may slow the THC by reducing the sinking of cold water in the North Atlantic. In addition, ocean salinity also influences water density, and thus decreases in sea-surface salinity from the melting of ice caps and glaciers may also slow the THC.
circulation in a large body of water caused by changes in water density brought about by variations in water temperature and salinity.
the vertical movements of ocean water masses caused by density differences that are due to variations in temperature and salinty
(THC): global-scale overturning of the ocean driven by density differences arising from temperature and salinity effects. One of the best known examples of thermohaline circulation is the Gulf Stream, a river of warmer, fresher surface water that flows to the North Atlantic, where it gives up its heat and sinks, making much of Western Europe considerably warmer than it would otherwise be.
Cold salty waters sink in polar regions and create deep sea currents which circle the world. "Thermo" refers to heat and "haline" means salt.
circulation driven by density gradients, which are controlled by temperature and salinity
Large-scale density-driven circulation I the oceans, driven by differences in temperature and salinity. (IPCC)
(THC)- Density-driven circulation system for the world's oceans. Warm Atlantic water moves northward along the axis of the Gulf Stream, evaporation makes the water more and more dense while releasing heat to the colder atmosphere in the North Atlantic. Once dense enough, the water sinks into the deep ocean, forming a downward limb of a giant conveyor-like circulation that extends around the world's oceans.
That part of the ocean circulation driven by temporal and spatial differences in both the salinity and temperature of the waters that comprise the world ocean. A simplified schematic model of this circulation is the conveyor belt model.
That part of the large-scale ocean circulation driven by the fluxes of heat and freshwater at the ocean surface. The freshwater flux affects salinity, and both temperature and salinity changes cause density changes that drive the thermohaline circulation. The present-day forcing consists of cooling and net precipitation in high latitudes, warming and evaporation in subtropical latitudes; note the opposing effects on density. The present-day thermohaline circulation consists of 1) sinking of strongly cooled, moderately saline water in relatively small regions located in areas of relatively strong winter cooling; 2) deep flow throughout the global ocean basins; and 3) slow upwelling toward the surface. Its transport is small compared to wind-driven transport, but it is believed that the thermohaline circulation is responsible for much of the heat transported by the ocean. See gradient current.
The thermohaline circulation (THC) is a term for the global density-driven circulation of the oceans. Derivation is from thermo- for heat and -haline for salt, which together determine the density of sea water. Wind driven surface currents (such as the Gulf Stream) head polewards from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, cooling all the while and eventually sinking at high latitudes (forming North Atlantic Deep Water).