Salinity Patterns in the Ocean

• Main Authors: Lynne D Talley, Ted Munn
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Indian; North Atlantic; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.552.8544; http://www-pord.ucsd.edu/~ltalley/papers/2000s/wiley_talley_salinitypatterns.pdf

Ocean salinity varies geographically and with time. Fresh water input occurs at the sea surface due to precipitation and river inflow, reducing salinity. Salinity is increased by evaporation and also as a by-product of sea ice forma-tion. Because freshening and salinification occur in different places, salinity at a particular location reflects the upstream source of the water there. In subtropical latitudes, high sur-face evaporation creates high salinity near the sea surface. In subpolar latitudes, high precipitation creates low salinity near the sea surface. As these waters flow into the ocean interior, they create layers of high and low salinity. At mid-depth (i.e., around 1000 to 2000 m deep), outflows from the highly evaporative Mediterranean and Red Seas create a vertical salinity maximum in the North Atlantic and Indian Oceans, respectively. Also at mid-depth in the