File:Thermohaline_Circulation_2.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
thermohaline circulation
Sign in to savepart of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- fluid flow
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- Commons category
- Ocean currents
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
- class of object(s) of occurrence
- sea water
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Encyclopedic overview
A summary of the path of the thermohaline circulation. Blue paths represent deep-water currents, while red paths represent surface currents. Thermohaline circulation
Thermohaline circulation (THC) is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation driven by global density gradients formed by surface heat and freshwater fluxes. The name thermohaline is derived from thermo-, referring to temperature, and haline, referring to salt content—factors which together determine the density of sea water.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “thermohaline circulation” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.