isopycnaln.
/ʌɪsəʊˈpɪknəl/ Oceanography.
A line (imaginary or on a chart) or an imaginary surface connecting points which have the same density. Also attributive or as adj.
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the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > map > [noun] > line on map > water features
cotidal line1833
isobath1889
isochlor1890
isohaline1902
isopycnal1927
1927 Geofysiske Publikasjoner IV. ii. 18 We may therefore assume the chief cause of the variations in the depth of the isopycnals to have been oscillations of the water-masses.
1962 C. A. M. King Oceanogr. for Geographers iv. 119 A line joining points of equal density is called an ‘isopycnal’.
1968 G. Neumann Ocean Currents iv. 129 The slope of isobaric surfaces..is small when compared to the slope of isothermal, isohaline (surfaces of equal salinity) and isopycnal surfaces.
1968 G. Neumann Ocean Currents iv. 168 In the case of frictionless ocean currents and without mixing a non-accelerated current must always be parallel to the isobars and to the isopycnals.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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n.1927