Studied by 0 people
Looks like no one added any tags here yet for you.
surface salinity variation
surface salinity varies depending on the latitude
high latitudes: abundant precipitation and runoff and melting of freshwater icebergs —> decreases salinity ; cool temps limit amount of evaporation
low latitudes: pattern of Earth’s atmospheric circulation causes warm, dry air to descend, so evaporation rates are high and salinity increases, also little precipitation and runoff
equator: temps are warm near equator so evaporation rates are high enough to increase salinity but increased precipitation and runoff partially offset high salinity
salinity variation with depth
salinity change w/ increasing depth for low-latitude regions: increased salinity at surface bc of evaporation and no precipitation, but with increasing depth, salinity gets lower
salinity change w/ increasing depth for high-latitude regions: decreased salinity at surface, salinity increases as you get deeper
why does salinity vary widely at the surface but hardly at all in the deep ocean"?
bc all processes that affect seawater salinity occur at surface and have no effect on deep water below
processes = precipitation, runoff, evaporation, melting icebergs, melting sea ice, ice forming
halocline
rapid change in salinity between depths of 300m-1000m
low-lat curve: decrease in salinity
high-lat curve: increase in salinity
**rapid changing salinity layer = halocline, which separates layers of different salinity in the ocean
why is there low surface salinity in high latitudes but high surface salinity in low latitudes?
(1) high: lots of precipitation, runoff, icebergs melting = lower salinity
(2) low: lot of evaporation with little precipitation, no icebergs/sea ice
explain the dip in surface salinity values near the equator
bc at equator, it’s hot so high evaporation rates but there’s also a lot of rain therefore a lot of precipitation and runoff, partially mitigating the evaporation rates and leading to not as high of a salinity
describe the halocline including where it occurs in the ocean.
300-1000m deep, layer of ocean where salinity changes rapidly
