In oceanography, a Halocline is a strong, vertical salinity gradient. Oceanography (from the greek words Ωκεανός meaning Ocean and γράφω meaning to write also called oceanology or Salinity is the Saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of Water. In Vector calculus, the gradient of a Scalar field is a Vector field which points in the direction of the greatest rate of increase of the scalar Because salinity (in concert with temperature) affects the density of seawater, it can play a role in its vertical stratification. Temperature is a physical property of a system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold something that is hotter generally has the greater temperature The density of a material is defined as its Mass per unit Volume: \rho = \frac{m}{V} Different materials usually have different Seawater is Water from a Sea or Ocean. On average seawater in the world's oceans has a Salinity of about 3 Water stratification occurs when water of high and low salinity ( Halocline) as well as cold and warm water ( Thermocline) forms layers that act as barriers to water Increasing salinity by one kg/m³ results in an increase of seawater density of around 0. 7 kg/m³.

In the midlatitudes, an excess of evaporation over precipitation leads to surface waters being saltier than deep waters. In such regions, the vertical stratification is due to surface waters being warmer than deep waters and the halocline is destabilizing. Such regions may be prone to salt fingering, a process which results in the preferential mixing of salinity. Salt fingering is a mixing process that occurs when warm salty water overlies cold fresh water

In certain high latitude regions (such as the Arctic Ocean, Bering Sea, and the Southern Ocean) the surface waters are actually colder than the deep waters and the halocline is responsible for maintaining water column stability- isolating the surface waters from the deep waters. The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major The Bering (or Imarpik) Sea is a body of water in the Pacific Ocean that comprises a deep water basin (the Aleutian Basin) which rises through The Southern Ocean, also known as the Great Southern Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean and the South Polar Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of In these regions, the halocline is important in allowing for the formation of sea ice, and limiting the escape of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Haloclines are also found in fjords, and poorly mixed estuaries where fresh water is deposited at the ocean surface.

A halocline can be easily created and observed in a drinking glass or other clear vessel. If fresh water is slowly poured over a quantity of salt water, using a spoon held horizontally at water-level to prevent mixing, a hazy interface layer, the halocline, will soon be visible due to the varying index of refraction across the boundary. The refractive index (or index of Refraction) of a medium is a measure for how much the speed of light (or other waves such as sound waves is reduced inside the medium

A halocline is most commonly confused with a thermocline - a thermocline is an area within a body of water that marks a drastic change in temperature. The thermocline (sometimes metalimnion) is a thin but distinct layer in a large body of water such as an ocean or lake in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth A halocline is simply a region below the surface of a body of water where there is a significant increase or decrease in density. Density may be found by using the equation P = Mass / Volume(g / cm3)

See also

• Isopycnal
• Pycnocline
• Thermocline

An isopycnal is a surface of constant Potential density of Water. A pycnocline is a rapid change in water Density with depth. In Freshwater environments such as Lakes this density change is primarily caused The thermocline (sometimes metalimnion) is a thin but distinct layer in a large body of water such as an ocean or lake in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth

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