Thermohaline circulation

Thermohaline circulation is large-scale ocean circulation driven by seawater density differences caused by variations in temperature and salinity. It links surface currents, deep-water formation, and slow return flows through the ocean interior.

Ocean density: Seawater density varies with temperature, salinity, and pressure. Temperature and salinity differences create the density contrasts that drive this circulation.
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation: The Atlantic's large-scale overturning circulation, including northward surface flow and southward deep flow. It is a major regional expression of density-driven overturning.
Henry Stommel: An American oceanographer whose work established foundational theories of ocean circulation. His 1961 model showed that the Atlantic overturning circulation can have multiple stable states.
Meridional overturning circulation: The north–south circulation of ocean water represented as a vertical flow across latitude and depth. This broader framework describes overturning without requiring temperature and salinity to be its sole drivers.
Water mass: A body of water with characteristic temperature and salinity formed in a particular region. Distinct water masses carry the temperature and salinity signatures formed at sinking regions.
Global conveyor belt: A simplified depiction of interconnected surface and deep ocean currents circulating around the globe. This popular model illustrates the long pathways often associated with thermohaline circulation.
Wallace Broecker: An American geochemist who advanced research on ocean circulation and climate change. He popularized the global conveyor-belt image for linked ocean circulation.
Thermal wind: The vertical change in geostrophic wind or current associated with horizontal temperature gradients. It links density gradients to ocean-current shear, rather than describing the global overturning itself.
Deep-water formation: The production of dense ocean water that sinks from the surface into the deep ocean. This process transfers surface water into the deep branch of the circulation.
Ocean heat transport: The movement of heat through the ocean by currents and mixing. Overturning transports heat between low and high latitudes, influencing regional climates.

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