Oil meets vinegar; fresh water meets salt water. Do they mix? When oil and vinegar combine, they blend well enough to make a pretty good salad dressing. So when fresh water and salt water converge, do they mix?
You may wonder if the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans mix when they meet. According to some, they do not. Let’s debunk the myth about where two oceans meet but do not mix.
When fresh water meets salt water, they form a salinity gradient. This occurs when fresh water from rivers or rain flows into the ocean, and the two liquids blend.
Depending on the density levels of the fresh water versus the salt water, the fresh water will sit on top of the salt water because the salt water is denser.
The term heavier to define sea water over fresh water may not be the best terminology. However if we are to use that term, seawater is heavier than fresh water.
The word “brackish” comes from the Dutch word brak, meaning salty or briny. That’s what brackish water is: a mix of fresh and salt water that is neither entirely fresh nor entirely salt.
Some said it had to be where the Atlantic meets the Pacific Ocean. While there are two very different colors of water not mixing in this image, the photo was not depicting the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans.