Why is it named Thermohaline?
The thermohaline has this name because it consists of general oceanic circulation controlled by the differences in temperature and salinity. Salinity refers to the total amount of dissolved salts in grams that are present in one kilogram of sea water, for example sodium and chloride. ‘Thermo’ comes from the use of heat in the process and ‘haline’ represents table salt, also known as halite.
Where does it travel?
How fast does the Thermohaline travel?
The process of the thermohaline circulation is extremely slow moving, going at the speed of 10 centimetres per second at the most. …show more content…
The water involved in the thermohaline current is warmed by the sun which then transports heat and water to a higher latitude. Once the water cools down at the higher latitudes, it sinks back down because of the density of the cold water. Depending on the temperature of the water, it has the ability to chill or heat the air around them which affects the temperature and weather of the certain area.
What is its role?
The thermohaline circulation contributes largely in providing warm water and heat to Polar Regions. It also transports volumes of cold, salty water from the North Atlantic back to the equator where it gets heated up again. If this process were to be interrupted, the disrupted flow of the thermohaline current would dramatically alter regional and even global patterns of heat transfer because when the water in stops moving, the equator will become hot leaving the Polar Regions cold.
What is it doing?
What drives this current and how does it work?
The thermohaline current is partly driven by the two attributes, salinity and temperature. The difference between the densities of the two masses of water, provided from the ocean, allows the circulation to flow. The current is also partly driven by wind and tidal forces but is difficult to estimate their role in the