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An isopycnal is a surface of constant potential density
Potential density

The potential density of a fluid parcel at pressure is the density that the parcel would acquire if adiabatic process brought to a reference pressure , often 1 bar ....
 of water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
. In the ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
, as the depth increases, so too does the density. Varying degrees of salinity
Salinity

Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. Salinity in Australian English and North American English may also refer to the salt in soil ....
 and temperature
Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....
 act to modify the density of water, and the denser water always lies below the less dense water. Because of the action of wind
WIND

The Global Geospace Science WIND satellite is a NASA science spacecraft launched at 04:31:00 EST on November 1, 1994 from launch pad 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Merritt_Island%2C_Florida, Florida aboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta II 7925-10 rocket....
s and currents, isopycnals are not always level.








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An isopycnal is a surface of constant potential density
Potential density

The potential density of a fluid parcel at pressure is the density that the parcel would acquire if adiabatic process brought to a reference pressure , often 1 bar ....
 of water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
. In the ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
, as the depth increases, so too does the density. Varying degrees of salinity
Salinity

Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. Salinity in Australian English and North American English may also refer to the salt in soil ....
 and temperature
Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....
 act to modify the density of water, and the denser water always lies below the less dense water. Because of the action of wind
WIND

The Global Geospace Science WIND satellite is a NASA science spacecraft launched at 04:31:00 EST on November 1, 1994 from launch pad 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Merritt_Island%2C_Florida, Florida aboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta II 7925-10 rocket....
s and currents, isopycnals are not always level.

See also

  • Halocline
    Halocline

    In oceanography, a halocline is a strong, vertical salinity gradient. Because salinity affects the density of seawater, it can play a role in its vertical stratification ....
  • Pycnocline
    Pycnocline

    A pycnocline is a rapid change in water density with water column. In freshwater environments such as lakes this density change is primarily caused by water temperature, while in seawater environments such as oceans the density change may be caused by changes in water temperature and/or salinity....
  • Thermocline
    Thermocline

    The thermocline is a thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid , in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below....