ENV100Y5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 39: Halocline, Pycnocline, Thermocline
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ENV100Y5 Full Course Notes
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Mean depth ~ 3. 8 km (absolute darkness) extremely poorly studied. Vertical variation in: temperature (thermocline, salinity (halocline, density (pycnocline, cline. Surface water heated by solar energy; colder, saltier water is denser and sinks. Surface: warmed by sunlight and stirred by wind; water density . Deeper: thermocline = temperature , halocline = salinity (generally, pycnocline = density . Deep zone: dense, cold, sluggish water, unaffected by winds, storms, sunlight. Water has high specific heat (capacity to store heat energy); takes a lot of energy to change water temperature. Oceans absorb heat in summer and releases in winter. Islands and coastal areas have moderate climates. Upwelling: upward flow of cold, deep waterw here winds blow away from, or parallel to, coastlines. Downwelling: oxygen-rich water sinks where surface currents come together, surface currents are driven by wind, through friction, ex. Gulf stream, warms the coast of western europe. Thermohaline circulation, deep circulation is driven by density differences.
