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Halocline
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== Description == In the [[Middle latitudes|midlatitudes]], an excess of [[evaporation]] over [[precipitation]] leads to surface waters being saltier than deep waters. In such regions, the vertical [[Stratification (water)|stratification]] is due to surface waters being warmer than deep waters and the halocline is destabilizing. Such regions may be prone to [[salt fingering]], a process which results in the preferential mixing of salinity.<ref name="Stratification">{{cite journal |last1=Schmitt |first1=R.W. |title=Salinity and the Global Water Cycle |journal=Oceanography |date=2008 |volume=21 |pages=12–19 |doi=10.5670/oceanog.2008.63 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/33549704|hdl=1912/2774 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In these regions, the halocline is important in allowing for the formation of sea ice, and limiting the escape of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.<ref name="Sea Ice">{{cite journal |last1=Rysgaard |first1=S. |title=Inorganic carbon transport during sea ice growth and decay: A carbon pump in polar seas |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |date=2007 |volume=112 |pages=112(C3) |doi=10.1029/2006JC003572 |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2006JC003572}}</ref> In certain high latitude regions (such as the [[Arctic Ocean]], [[Bering Sea]], and the [[Southern Ocean]]) the surface waters are actually colder than the deep waters and the halocline is responsible for maintaining water column stability, isolating the surface waters from the deep waters.<ref name="Halocline water column stability">{{cite journal |last1=Sprintall |first1=J. |last2=Cronin |first2=M.F. |title=Upper Ocean Vertical Structure |journal=Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences |date=2001 |pages=3120–3128 |doi=10.1006/rwos.2001.0149 |isbn=978-0-12-227430-5 |url=https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/people/cronin/encycl/ms0149.pdf}}</ref> Haloclines are also found in [[fjord]]s, and poorly mixed [[Estuary|estuaries]] where fresh water is deposited at the ocean surface.<ref name="chalmers">{{cite web |last1=Svensson |first1=Torbjörn |title=Water Exchange and Mixing in Fjords |url=http://publications.lib.chalmers.se/records/fulltext/167235/167235.pdf |website=www.chalmers.se |publisher=[[Chalmers University of Technology]] |date=6 February 1981|page=159|access-date=13 July 2020}}</ref> A halocline can be easily created and observed in a drinking glass or other clear vessel. If fresh water is slowly poured over a quantity of salt water, using a spoon held horizontally at water-level to prevent mixing, a hazy interface layer, the halocline, will soon be visible due to the varying [[index of refraction]] across the boundary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Making a Halocline |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG0ZPGpW024 |website=YouTube |publisher=Russell Hollingworth |date=2020-04-08 |access-date=2025-04-13}}</ref> A halocline is most commonly confused with a [[thermocline]] – a thermocline is an area within a body of water that marks a drastic change in temperature. A halocline can coincide with a thermocline and form a [[pycnocline]].<ref name="ocean">{{cite book |last1=Garrison |first1=Tom |title=Enhanced Essentials of Oceanography |date=2006 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=0-495-11372-7 |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tFEkwAxLSu4C}}</ref> Haloclines are common in water-filled [[limestone]] caves near the ocean. Less dense fresh water from the land forms a layer over salt water from the ocean.<ref name="caves">{{cite book |last1=White |first1=William B |last2=Culver |first2=David C |title=Encyclopedia of Caves |date=2012 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-383832-2 |page=157 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=alDky3N0CmkC}}</ref> For underwater cave explorers, this can cause the optical illusion of air space in caverns. Passing through the halocline tends to stir up the layers.[[File:Arctic sea temperature salinity plot.svg|thumb|Plot of temperature and salinity in the Arctic Ocean at 85,18 north and 117,28 east dated Jan. 1st 2010.<ref name="gtsppdata">{{cite web|title=U.S. National Oceanographic Data Center: Global Temperature–Salinity Profile Programme. June 2006. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Oceanographic Data Center, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910.|date= 25 November 2020|url= http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/GTSPP/}}</ref>]]
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