Definition of thermohaline circulation in English:
thermohaline circulation
noun-ˈheɪliːnˌθəːmə(ʊ)ˈheɪlʌɪn
mass nounOceanography
The movement of seawater in a pattern of flow dependent on variations in temperature, which give rise to changes in salt content and hence in density.
〔海洋学〕热盐环流
Example sentencesExamples
The thermohaline circulation is driven by differences in seawater density, caused by temperature and salinity.
About 12,700 years ago, the fresh water from melted polar ice, Arctic tundra and glaciers seems to have reached the concentration required to severely disrupt the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation.
The circulation driven by density differences is thus called the thermohaline circulation.
The answers are blowing in the wind, but by 2010, the world's thermohaline circulation system may begin to collapse.
This cyclic flow of water initiated by the cooling of surface sea water in the polar regions is known as thermohaline circulation, and is the principal example of a process called advection.
A major impact would result from a weakening of the global thermohaline circulation as a result of a net increase in river flow and the resulting increased flux of freshwater from the Arctic Ocean.
The mechanism is complex, involving interruptions of the thermohaline circulation of the North Atlantic, as a result of increased freshening of its water, which in turn can be a consequence of brief but intense periods of - guess what? - global warming.
Well, the greatest and most mysterious ocean current is called the thermohaline circulation, or the Great Ocean Conveyor, which exchanges warm and cool water around the world.
From there it flowed to the North Atlantic to once again interrupt thermohaline circulation.
A collapse of the west Antarctic ice sheet (which would raise global sea levels by several tens of metres) might shut down the Atlantic thermohaline circulation, including the Gulf Stream, that warms western Europe.
The North Atlantic thermohaline circulation, which currently warms Europe by transporting heat from the tropics, weakens in the models.
The timing of deglaciation shows a close correspondence to increased meridional overturning of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation and attendant warming of the North Atlantic Ocean immediately after the last glacial maximum.
It explained that the influx of massive quantities of freshwater into the polar oceans could slow down, or even halt, the global thermohaline circulation.
That would dilute the salt content and could lead to the thermohaline circulation breaking down suddenly.
The idea that a warmer world could slow the thermohaline circulation is based on the fact that anything that made the water of the North Atlantic less salty or warmer would slow down the circulation.
He predicted, ‘The likelihood of the collapse of thermohaline circulation in the next 200 years is two in three.’
A collapse of the thermohaline circulation is a low-probability, but high-impact event.