Mondo Knows Facts
Oceans circulate driven by heat and salt
Cold salty water sinks near the poles and draws a slow global conveyor Seawater becomes denser as it cools and as its salt content rises. In the North Atlantic, cold salty surface water sinks and flows south along the ocean floor. The return flow at the surface carries warm water north, and a full circuit takes roughly a thousand years. It sits in Mondo's science collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
Go further
More facts like this
El Nino shifts weather across the PacificWeakened trade winds leave warm water spread east and disrupt rainfallWater exists as solid liquid and gas at its triple pointAt zero point zero one degrees Celsius and specific pressure water coexists in three statesSurface tension allows water striders to walk on liquidCohesive hydrogen bonds draw surface water molecules into an elastic skin-like filmWater expands as it transforms from liquid to iceHydrogen bonding locks frozen water molecules into an open hexagonal latticeWater boils cooler high on mountainsAt low pressure water reaches boiling point well below 100 degrees CelsiusFrost forms straight from water vapourOn cold nights vapour turns to ice without first becoming liquid water
🔬 Sciencefact 167 of 200
← → to keep reading, or swipe
Tags: ocean, climate, water
Oceans circulate driven by heat and salt: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Cold salty water sinks near the poles and draws a slow global conveyor. The figure is taken from NOAA, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a science fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.