Stratification in water is the formation in a body of water of relatively distinct and stable layers by density. It occurs in all water bodies where there is stable density variation with depth. Stratification is a barrier to the vertical mixing of water, which affects the exchange of heat, carbon, oxygen and nutrients. [1] Wind-driven upwelling and downwelling of open water can induce mixing of different layers through the stratification, and force the rise of denser cold, nutrient-rich, or saline water and the sinking of lighter warm or fresher water, respectively. Layers are based on water density: denser water remains below less dense water in stable stratification in the absence of forced mixing.
Stratification occurs in several kinds of water bodies, such as oceans, lakes, estuaries, flooded caves, aquifers and some rivers.
The driving force in stratification is gravity, which sorts adjacent arbitrary volumes of water by local density, operating on them by buoyancy and weight. A volume of water of lower density than the surroundings will have a resultant buoyant force lifting it upwards, and a volume with higher density will be pulled down by the weight which will be greater than the resultant buoyant forces, following Archimedes' principle. Each volume will rise or sink until it has either mixed with its surroundings through turbulence and diffusion to match the density of the surroundings, reaches a depth where it has the same density as the surroundings, or reaches the top or bottom boundary of the body of water, and spreads out until the forces are balanced and the body of water reaches its lowest potential energy.
The density of water, which is defined as mass per unit of volume, is a function of temperature (), salinity () and pressure (), which is a function of depth and the density distribution of the overlaying water column, and is denoted as .
The dependence on pressure is not significant, since water is almost perfectly incompressible. [2] An increase in the temperature of the water above 4 °C causes expansion and the density will decrease. Water expands when it freezes, and a decrease in temperature below 4 °C also causes expansion and a decrease in density. An increase in salinity, the mass of dissolved solids, will increase the density.
Density is the decisive factor in stratification. It is possible for a combination of temperature and salinity to result in a density that is less or more than the effect of either one in isolation, so it can happen that a layer of warmer saline water is layered between a colder fresher surface layer and a colder more saline deeper layer.
A pycnocline is a layer in a body of water where the change in density is relatively large compared to that of other layers. The thickness of the pycnoocline is not constant everywhere and depends on a variety of variables. [3]
Just like a pycnocline is a layer with a large change in density with depth, similar layers can be defined for a large change in temperature, a thermocline, and salinity, a halocline. Since the density depends on both the temperature and the salinity, the pycno-, thermo-, and haloclines have a similar shape. [4]
Mixing is the breakdown of stratification. Once a body of water has reached a stable state of stratification, and no external forces or energy are applied, it will slowly mix by diffusion until homogeneous in density, temperature and composition, varying only due to minor effects of compressibility. This does not usually occur in nature, where there are a variety of external influences to maintain or disturb the equilibrium. Among these are heat input from the sun, which warms the upper volume, making it expand slightly and decreasing the density, so this tends to increase or stabilise stratification. Heat input from below, as occurs from tectonic plate spreading and vulcanism is a disturbing influence, causing heated water to rise, but these are usually local effects and small compared to the effects of wind, heat loss and evaporation from the free surface, and changes of direction of currents.
Wind has the effects of generating wind waves and wind currents, and increasing evaporation at the surface, which has a cooling effect and a concentrating effect on solutes, increasing salinity, both of which increase density. The movement of waves creates some shear in the water, which increases mixing in the surface water, as does the development of currents. Mass movement of water between latitudes is affected by coriolis forces, which impart motion across the current direction, and movement towards or away from a land mass or other topographic obstruction may leave a deficit or excess which lowers or raises the sea level locally, driving upwelling and downwelling to compensate. The major upwellings in the ocean are associated with the divergence of currents that bring deeper waters to the surface. There are at least five types of upwelling: coastal upwelling, large-scale wind-driven upwelling in the ocean interior, upwelling associated with eddies, topographically associated upwelling, and broad-diffusive upwelling in the ocean interior. Downwelling also occurs in anti-cyclonic regions of the ocean where warm rings spin clockwise, causing surface convergence. When these surface waters converge, the surface water is pushed downwards. [5] These mixing effects destabilise and reduce stratification.
Ocean stratification is the natural separation of an ocean's water into horizontal layers by density, and occurs in all ocean basins. Denser water is below lighter water, representing a stable stratification. The pycnocline is the layer where the rate of change in density is largest.
Ocean stratification is generally stable because warmer water is less dense than colder water, and most heating is from the sun, which directly affects only the surface layer. Stratification is reduced by mechanical mixing induced by wind, but reinforced by convection (warm water rising, cold water sinking). Stratified layers act as a barrier to the mixing of water, which impacts the exchange of heat, carbon, oxygen and other nutrients. [1] The surface mixed layer is the uppermost layer in the ocean and is well mixed by mechanical (wind) and thermal (convection) effects.
Due to wind driven movement of surface water away from and towards land masses, upwelling and downwelling can occur, breaking through the stratification in those areas, where cold nutrient-rich water rises and warm water sinks, respectively, mixing surface and bottom waters.
The thickness of the thermocline is not constant everywhere and depends on a variety of variables.
Between 1960 and 2018, upper ocean stratification increased between 0.7 and 1.2% per decade due to climate change. [1] This means that the differences in density of the layers in the oceans increase, leading to larger mixing barriers and other effects.[ clarification needed ] Global upper-ocean stratification has continued its increasing trend in 2022. [7] The southern oceans (south of 30°S) experienced the strongest rate of stratification since 1960, followed by the Pacific, Atlantic, and the Indian Oceans. [1] Increasing stratification is predominantly affected by changes in ocean temperature; salinity only plays a role locally. [1]
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. [8]
The residence time of water in an estuary is dependent on the circulation within the estuary that is driven by density differences due to changes in salinity and temperature. Less dense freshwater floats over saline water and warmer water floats above colder water for temperatures greater than 4 °C. As a result, near-surface and near-bottom waters can have different trajectories, resulting in different residence times.
Vertical mixing determines how much the salinity and temperature will change from the top to the bottom, profoundly affecting water circulation. Vertical mixing occurs at three levels: from the surface downward by wind forces, the bottom upward by turbulence generated at the interface between the estuarine and oceanic water masses, and internally by turbulent mixing caused by the water currents which are driven by the tides, wind, and river inflow. [9]
Different types of estuarine circulation result from vertical mixing:
Salt wedge estuaries are characterized by a sharp density interface between the upper layer of freshwater and the bottom layer of saline water. River water dominates in this system, and tidal effects have a small role in the circulation patterns. The freshwater floats on top of the seawater and gradually thins as it moves seaward. The denser seawater moves along the bottom up the estuary forming a wedge shaped layer and becoming thinner as it moves landward. As a velocity difference develops between the two layers, shear forces generate internal waves at the interface, mixing the seawater upward with the freshwater. [10] An example is the Mississippi estuary.[ citation needed ]
As tidal forcing increases, the control of river flow on the pattern of circulation in the estuary becomes less dominating. Turbulent mixing induced by the current creates a moderately stratified condition. Turbulent eddies mix the water column, creating a mass transfer of freshwater and seawater in both directions across the density boundary. Therefore, the interface separating the upper and lower water masses is replaced with a water column with a gradual increase in salinity from surface to bottom. A two layered flow still exists however, with the maximum salinity gradient at mid depth. Partially stratified estuaries are typically shallow and wide, with a greater width to depth ratio than salt wedge estuaries. [10] An example is the Thames.[ citation needed ]
In vertically homogeneous estuaries, tidal flow is greater relative to river discharge, resulting in a well mixed water column and the disappearance of the vertical salinity gradient. The freshwater-seawater boundary is eliminated due to the intense turbulent mixing and eddy effects. The width to depth ratio of vertically homogeneous estuaries is large, with the limited depth creating enough vertical shearing on the seafloor to mix the water column completely. If tidal currents at the mouth of an estuary are strong enough to create turbulent mixing, vertically homogeneous conditions often develop. [10]
Fjords are usually examples of highly stratified estuaries; they are basins with sills and have freshwater inflow that greatly exceeds evaporation. Oceanic water is imported in an intermediate layer and mixes with the freshwater. The resulting brackish water is then exported into the surface layer. A slow import of seawater may flow over the sill and sink to the bottom of the fjord (deep layer), where the water remains stagnant until flushed by an occasional storm. [9]
Inverse estuaries occur in dry climates where evaporation greatly exceeds the inflow of freshwater. A salinity maximum zone is formed, and both riverine and oceanic water flow close to the surface towards this zone. [11] This water is pushed downward and spreads along the bottom in both the seaward and landward direction. The maximum salinity can reach extremely high values and the residence time can be several months. In these systems, the salinity maximum zone acts like a plug, inhibiting the mixing of estuarine and oceanic waters so that freshwater does not reach the ocean. The high salinity water sinks seaward and exits the estuary. [12] [13]
Lake stratification, generally a form of thermal stratification caused by density variations due to water temperature, is the formation of separate and distinct layers of water during warm weather, and sometimes when frozen over. Typically stratified lakes show three distinct layers, the epilimnion comprising the top warm layer, the thermocline (or metalimnion): the middle layer, which may change depth throughout the day, and the colder hypolimnion extending to the floor of the lake.[ citation needed ]
The thermal stratification of lakes is a vertical isolation of parts of the water body from mixing caused by variation in the temperature at different depths in the lake, and is due to the density of water varying with temperature. [14] Cold water is denser than warm water of the same salinity, and the epilimnion generally consists of water that is not as dense as the water in the hypolimnion. [15] However, the temperature of maximum density for freshwater is 4 °C. In temperate regions where lake water warms up and cools through the seasons, a cyclical pattern of overturn occurs that is repeated from year to year as the water at the top of the lake cools and sinks (see stable and unstable stratification). For example, in dimictic lakes the lake water turns over during the spring and the fall. This process occurs more slowly in deeper water and as a result, a thermal bar may form. [14] If the stratification of water lasts for extended periods, the lake is meromictic.
In shallow lakes, stratification into epilimnion, metalimnion, and hypolimnion often does not occur, as wind or cooling causes regular mixing throughout the year. These lakes are called polymictic. There is not a fixed depth that separates polymictic and stratifying lakes, as apart from depth, this is also influenced by turbidity, lake surface area, and climate. [16] The lake mixing regime (e.g. polymictic, dimictic, meromictic) [17] describes the yearly patterns of lake stratification that occur in most years. However, short-term events can influence lake stratification as well. Heat waves can cause periods of stratification in otherwise mixed, shallow lakes, [18] while mixing events, such as storms or large river discharge, can break down stratification. [19] Recent research suggests that seasonally ice-covered dimictic lakes may be described as "cryostratified" or "cryomictic" according to their wintertime stratification regimes. [19] Cryostratified lakes exhibit inverse stratification near the ice surface and have depth-averaged temperatures near 4 °C, while cryomictic lakes have no under-ice thermocline and have depth-averaged winter temperatures closer to 0 °C. [19]
An anchialine system is a landlocked body of water with a subterranean connection to the ocean. Depending on its formation, these systems can exist in one of two primary forms: pools or caves. The primary differentiating characteristics between pools and caves is the availability of light; cave systems are generally aphotic while pools are euphotic. The difference in light availability has a large influence on the biology of a given system. Anchialine systems are a feature of coastal aquifers which are density stratified, with water near the surface being fresh or brackish, and saline water intruding from the coast at depth. Depending on the site, it is sometimes possible to access the deeper saline water directly in the anchialine pool, or sometimes it may be accessible by cave diving. [20]
Anchialine systems are extremely common worldwide especially along neotropical coastlines where the geology and aquifer systems are relatively young, and there is minimal soil development. Such conditions occur notably where the bedrock is limestone or recently formed volcanic lava. Many anchialine systems are found on the coastlines of the island of Hawaii, the Yucatán Peninsula, South Australia, the Canary Islands, Christmas Island, and other karst and volcanic systems. [20]
Karst caves which drain into the sea may have a halocline separating the fresh water from the seawater underneath which can be visible even when both layers are clear due to the difference in refractive indices.
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater and fresh water together, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root brak. Certain human activities can produce brackish water, in particular civil engineering projects such as dikes and the flooding of coastal marshland to produce brackish water pools for freshwater prawn farming. Brackish water is also the primary waste product of the salinity gradient power process. Because brackish water is hostile to the growth of most terrestrial plant species, without appropriate management it can be damaging to the environment.
Downwelling is the downward movement of a fluid parcel and its properties within a larger fluid. It is closely related to upwelling, the upward movement of fluid.
Thermohaline circulation (THC) is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes. The adjective thermohaline derives from thermo- referring to temperature and -haline referring to salt content, factors which together determine the density of sea water. Wind-driven surface currents travel polewards from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, cooling en route, and eventually sinking at high latitudes. This dense water then flows into the ocean basins. While the bulk of it upwells in the Southern Ocean, the oldest waters upwell in the North Pacific. Extensive mixing therefore takes place between the ocean basins, reducing differences between them and making the Earth's oceans a global system. The water in these circuits transport both energy and mass around the globe. As such, the state of the circulation has a large impact on the climate of the Earth.
A thermocline is a distinct layer based on temperature within a large body of fluid with a high gradient of distinct temperature differences associated with depth. In the ocean, the thermocline divides the upper mixed layer from the calm deep water below.
Internal waves are gravity waves that oscillate within a fluid medium, rather than on its surface. To exist, the fluid must be stratified: the density must change with depth/height due to changes, for example, in temperature and/or salinity. If the density changes over a small vertical distance, the waves propagate horizontally like surface waves, but do so at slower speeds as determined by the density difference of the fluid below and above the interface. If the density changes continuously, the waves can propagate vertically as well as horizontally through the fluid.
The spring bloom is a strong increase in phytoplankton abundance that typically occurs in the early spring and lasts until late spring or early summer. This seasonal event is characteristic of temperate North Atlantic, sub-polar, and coastal waters. Phytoplankton blooms occur when growth exceeds losses, however there is no universally accepted definition of the magnitude of change or the threshold of abundance that constitutes a bloom. The magnitude, spatial extent and duration of a bloom depends on a variety of abiotic and biotic factors. Abiotic factors include light availability, nutrients, temperature, and physical processes that influence light availability, and biotic factors include grazing, viral lysis, and phytoplankton physiology. The factors that lead to bloom initiation are still actively debated.
In oceanography, a halocline is a cline, a subtype of chemocline caused by a strong, vertical salinity gradient within a body of water. Because salinity affects the density of seawater, it can play a role in its vertical stratification. Increasing salinity by one kg/m3 results in an increase of seawater density of around 0.7 kg/m3.
A pycnocline is the cline or layer where the density gradient is greatest within a body of water. An ocean current is generated by the forces such as breaking waves, temperature and salinity differences, wind, Coriolis effect, and tides caused by the gravitational pull of celestial bodies. In addition, the physical properties in a pycnocline driven by density gradients also affect the flows and vertical profiles in the ocean. These changes can be connected to the transport of heat, salt, and nutrients through the ocean, and the pycnocline diffusion controls upwelling.
Lake stratification is the tendency of lakes to form separate and distinct thermal layers during warm weather. Typically stratified lakes show three distinct layers: the epilimnion, comprising the top warm layer; the thermocline, the middle layer, whose depth may change throughout the day; and the colder hypolimnion, extending to the floor of the lake.
Isopycnals are layers within the ocean that are stratified based on their densities and can be shown as a line connecting points of a specific density or potential density on a graph. Isopycnals are often displayed graphically to help visualize "layers" of the water in the ocean or gases in the atmosphere in a similar manner to how contour lines are used in topographic maps to help visualize topography.
Ocean stratification is the natural separation of an ocean's water into horizontal layers by density. This is generally stable stratification, because warm water floats on top of cold water, and heating is mostly from the sun, which reinforces that arrangement. Stratification is reduced by wind-forced mechanical mixing, but reinforced by convection. Stratification occurs in all ocean basins and also in other water bodies. Stratified layers are a barrier to the mixing of water, which impacts the exchange of heat, carbon, oxygen and other nutrients. The surface mixed layer is the uppermost layer in the ocean and is well mixed by mechanical (wind) and thermal (convection) effects. Climate change is causing the upper ocean stratification to increase.
The oceanic or limnological mixed layer is a layer in which active turbulence has homogenized some range of depths. The surface mixed layer is a layer where this turbulence is generated by winds, surface heat fluxes, or processes such as evaporation or sea ice formation which result in an increase in salinity. The atmospheric mixed layer is a zone having nearly constant potential temperature and specific humidity with height. The depth of the atmospheric mixed layer is known as the mixing height. Turbulence typically plays a role in the formation of fluid mixed layers.
Bottom water is the lowermost water mass in a water body, by its bottom, with distinct characteristics, in terms of physics, chemistry, and ecology.
Estuarine water circulation is controlled by the inflow of rivers, the tides, rainfall and evaporation, the wind, and other oceanic events such as an upwelling, an eddy, and storms. Estuarine water circulation patterns are influenced by vertical mixing and stratification, and can affect residence time and exposure time.
The Barrier layer in the ocean is a layer of water separating the well-mixed surface layer from the thermocline.
In oceanography, a front is a boundary between two distinct water masses. The formation of fronts depends on multiple physical processes and small differences in these lead to a wide range of front types. They can be as narrow as a few hundreds of metres and as wide as several tens of kilometres. While most fronts form and dissipate relatively quickly, some can persist for long periods of time.
A river plume is a freshened water mass that is formed in the sea as a result of mixing of river discharge and saline seawater. River plumes are formed in coastal sea areas at many regions in the World. River plumes generally occupy wide-but-shallow sea surface layers bounded by sharp density gradients. The area of a river plume is 3-5 orders of magnitude greater than its depth; therefore, even small rivers with discharge rates ~1–10 m/s form river plumes with horizontal spatial extents ~10–100 m. Areas of river plumes formed by the largest rivers are ~100–1000 km2. Despite the relatively small volume of total freshwater runoff to the World Ocean, river plumes occupy up to 21% of shelf areas of the ocean, i.e., several million square kilometers.
Stable stratification of fluids occurs when each layer is less dense than the one below it. Unstable stratification is when each layer is denser than the one below it.
Eddy pumping is a component of mesoscale eddy-induced vertical motion in the ocean. It is a physical mechanism through which vertical motion is created from variations in an eddy's rotational strength. Cyclonic (Anticyclonic) eddies lead primarily to upwelling (downwelling). It is a key mechanism driving biological and biogeochemical processes in the ocean such as algal blooms and the carbon cycle.
An anchialine system is a landlocked body of water with a subterranean connection to the ocean. Depending on its formation, these systems can exist in one of two primary forms: pools or caves. The primary differentiating characteristics between pools and caves is the availability of light; cave systems are generally aphotic while pools are euphotic. The difference in light availability has a large influence on the biology of a given system. Anchialine systems are a feature of coastal aquifers which are density stratified, with water near the surface being fresh or brackish, and saline water intruding from the coast at depth. Depending on the site, it is sometimes possible to access the deeper saline water directly in the anchialine pool, or sometimes it may be accessible by cave diving.
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