Salinity Minimum in the Tropical Pacific

V. A. Sosnin

It is shown that the salinity minimum at subsurface depths of the tropical Pacific is a local phenomenon. Characteristics of the salinity minimum are relative by absolute values and variable in time. It appears and disappears in the intertropical convergence zone according to variability of the freshwater budget sign. The salinity minimum appears during the negative phase of the freshwater budget on the background of the previous freshening of the sea surface. The salinity minimum at intermediate depths in both hemispheres is a single phenomenon of climatic time scale. At present, it exists at intermediate layers in the arid zones of both hemispheres due to the negative phase of the freshwater budget. This minimum is related to the Earth climate system variability at the geological time scale. Differences in its properties in the Northern and Southern hemispheres reflect differences in the freshwater budget values and the duration of their influence at the geological time scale.