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Definition of upwelling
: the process or an instance of rising or appearing to rise to the surface and flowing outward; especially : the process of upward movement to the ocean surface of deeper cold usually nutrient-rich waters especially along some shores due to the offshore movement of surface waters (as from the action of winds and the Coriolis force)
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Recent Examples of upwelling from the Web
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Strong upwelling in Monterey Bay initiated the bloom locally and several milder events allowed the algae to persist and accumulate.
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This is called upwelling and essentially fertilizes ocean waters.
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At the same time, wind patterns change so that breezes blowing off the coasts push warm, surface water toward the center of the ocean and allow upwelling of cooler, nutrient-rich water.
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Runoff from the glaciers would have washed nutrients like iron into coastal waters and intense seasonal upwelling cycles would have caused cold water from deep below to rise, bringing organic material toward the surface.
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Iceland is also situated on a mantle plume, or an upwelling of scalding rocks that is believed to cause volcanic hotspots.
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Small shifts in water temperature and upwelling can have large impacts on species that depend on those deep sea nutrients, Gentemann says.
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Scientists studying the upwelling typically use pressure measurements from ocean buoys as a proxy for the the winds that clear the way for the colder water from below.
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Then colder, deeper water rushes up to replace it—an upwelling that carries precious nutrients.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'upwelling'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of upwelling
1868
Learn More about upwelling
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See words that rhyme with upwelling Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about upwelling
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