Pycnocline

{
  "id": "MLC-T-ENV-022827",
  "term": "Pycnocline",
  "field": "Environment",
  "definition": "1. The zone or boundary where the fresher water layer on the surface meets the saltier water layer below. The pycnocline can be a physical barrier that prevents mixing or exchange between the two layers.\n\n2. The depth in the water column where there is an abrupt change in density, temperature, and salinity. A pycnocline often forms in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries when the lighter, warmer, and fresher water coming downstream from the spring rains overlays the denser, colder, and saltier water of the salt wedge bringing water upstream from the ocean.\n\n3. In the ocean, a region where the water density increases rapidly with depth.\n\n4. The zone of maximum change of density of a particular physicochemical variable - normally salinity or temperature - that segregates two distinct layers, which are of relatively homogeneous density. The presence of a pycnocline provides a barrier to vertical mixing between the upper and lower water columns, and this layer enhances the stability of the water column.\n\n5. Zone or boundary where the fresher water layer on the surface meets the saltier water layer below. The pycnocline can be a physical barrier that prevents mixing or exchange between the two layers.",
  "subject": "Ecosystems",
  "references": [
    "Chesapeake Bay Glossary",
    "Chesapeake Bay TMDL Glossary",
    "NASA Sustainable Development Indicators Glossary",
    "Federal Geographic Data Committee Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard, June 2012 FGDC-STD-018-2012"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/environment/pycnocline/"
}