Thermohaline circulation is driven by which of the following?

Adifferences in temperature and salinity that create density variations in ocean water

Bdifferences in density and salinity that create temperature variations in ocean water

Cdifferences in salinity that create temperature and density variations in ocean water

Ddifferences in density that create temperature and salinity variations in ocean water

thermohaline circulation is driven by : A. differences in temperature and salinity that create density variations in ocean water
Salinity refer to how much salt that the ocean water contain, and the temperature became a very important factor because it could determine the amount of water that evaporates.

Answer Link

throwdolbeau throwdolbeau · Answer 2 · 2019-11-20T06:38:34-05:00

Answer:

Option (A)

Explanation:

The thermohaline circulation is usually defined as the global oceanic conveyor belt that is basically controlled by the horizontal differences in both the factors namely, temperature and salinity. It is a slow process that repeatedly mixes the upper surface water and the deeper water. This has great importance in controlling the earth's climatic condition as it carries heat and nutrients from the equatorial to the polar region and again comes back to the equator.

The salinity and density of the seawater are directly proportional to each other, but the temperature and density are inversely proportional to one another and the temperature affects more adversely than the salinity because the ocean surface water is exposed to direct sunlight that absorbs a large amount of heat energy.

Due to this difference in their temperature and salinity, there occurs the density difference, which is responsible for the global thermohaline circulation in the ocean.

Thus, the correct answer is option (A).