salinitydriven

Salinity-driven is a descriptor used in oceanography and related fields to denote processes or phenomena in which variations in seawater salinity and the density differences they produce play a primary role. Although temperature also affects density, salinity-driven dynamics are controlled largely by salinity contrasts arising from evaporation, precipitation, river input, sea-ice formation and melt, or freshwater inflows.

Salinity influences water density, which governs stratification, vertical mixing, and horizontal circulation. In estuaries, salinity gradients drive the exchange flow between river and sea. In the open ocean, changes in salinity contribute to density-driven convection and interact with temperature to sustain regional or global circulation patterns, including aspects of the thermohaline circulation. Salinity also participates in double-diffusive processes such as salt fingering when salinity and temperature gradients differ.

Salinity-driven processes affect climate, biogeochemistry, and marine ecosystems by controlling nutrient mixing, oxygen distribution, and habitat suitability. They are studied through in situ sensors, CTD casts, autonomous floats, and ocean models that simulate salinity as a tracer and its coupling to sea surface salinity, evaporation, and freshwater fluxes. The term emphasizes the causal role of salinity in the observed dynamics, as distinct from temperature-driven or purely mechanically forced flows.

In writing, the standard form is salinity-driven with a hyphen; "salinitydriven" may appear in code, data labels, or nonstandard usage.