In hydrologic terms, a flow of water maintained by gravity through a large body of water, such as a reservoir or lake, and retaining its unmixed identity because of a difference in density.
A gravity-driven flow of dense water down an underwater slope. The increased density of the water is a result of a temperature difference, increased salinity or suspended sediment load.
A current that flows as a result of differences in density. In oceans, density currents are produced by differences in temperature, salinity, and turbidity (the concentration of material held in suspension).
circulation of water due to differences in density
An almost horizontal pattern of flow due to differences of density in air or liquids. (See also Gravity Current.)
The intrusion of a denser fluid beneath a lighter fluid, due mainly to the hydrostatic forces arising from gravity and the density differences. This term is used principally in engineering for such cases as the intrusion of saltwater below freshwater in an estuary, or for currents caused by the presence of denser water with suspended silt at the bottom of a lake or ocean. Many of the phenomena are quite analogous to some of those associated with cold fronts in the atmosphere.