Fingers of salt
2005/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
The laboratory models show the importance of the fingers of salt in the water mixture of the oceans and, therefore, in the global climate, demonstrating their correction through direct observations.
The research has been carried out in the East of the Caribbean and oceanographers have used sulfur hexafluoride as tractors.
Ocean waters seem homogeneous at first sight, but warm and salty water is constantly being mixed with fresh cold water. When these two types of water are found, the warm water begins to cool, causing the sinking (formation of structures similar to the fingers). The warm water cools down more as it sinks, faster than the salt loss, while moving the cold water and sending it up. In this way, cold water continues to mix with the more temperate water above.
