How can a current flow uphill on the seafloor? Water at the seafloor is stratified, with layers of progressively denser waters toward the bottom. Top diagram: When these layers collide with a slope, mixing occurs, and less dense waters end up at the same level as denser waters. Bottom diagram: Gravity then pushes the denser water to sink under the less dense water, driving a current flowing upward along the slope of the incline. (Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)[back]
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