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University of Bergen
Geophysical Institute

24 days of kitchen oceanography

Each day a new experiement will be posted here. Reveal what is hidden behind the windows by clicking on the arrows below.

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Day 7
Day 8
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Mediterranean outflow

Day 10
15.12.2020

What is the red layer of water doing over the blue layer?

Utstrømning i Middelhavet
Photo:
Mirjam Glessmer, GFI

Expermiment 10: 

We divide a rectangular container into two basins by building a playdough dam up to half the container’s height. One of the basins is filled with blue colored, cold salt water until just below threshold level. The other basin is filled to threshold level with warm fresh water. Then, cold red fresh water is poured gently into the basin filled with warm fresh water. The cold red fresh water sinks down and slowly fills the basin to the threshold level, while the warm fresh water spreads across the threshold over the two basins. After the basin is filled with red, cold fresh water up to threshold level, we continue pouring, but more slowly, so that the water flows over the threshold. It now continues to layer itself under the warm fresh water, but over the cold salt water.

Chapter 10: Mediterranean outflow

Eddies occur in the ocean for example where the very warm and salty Mediterranean water flows into the Atlantic at mid-depth. There it forms a layer according to its density, between colder and less salty water masses above and below.