OCEAN HEAT BUDGET
type: Concept

CONVECTION
type: Concept
definition: Convection is energy transfer through motion of within the fluid resulting in transport and mixing of the properties of the fluid. In oceanography, convection plays a role in the transfer of heat away from the ocean. As the air near the warm sea surface gets heated, it expands and rises, carrying the heat away. In physical oceanography, the sinking of surface waters to form deep water masses, a process of fundamental importance for ocean climate and the maintenance of a stably stratified world ocean. There are two main types of deep convection, the physics of which are very different. The first is convection near an open boundary, which involves the formation of a dense water mass which reaches the bottom of the ocean by descending a continental slope. The second type is open-ocean deep convection, where the sinking occurs far from land and is predominantly vertical.
in scheme: sciencekeywords