I understand that some blob of water stays clump up in certain place because of density difference from surrounding water, such as salinity difference at Gibraltar or under the arctic glaciers.
What I wonder is if there’s any other factor that slows down the diffusion other than relatively low agitation?
Or is it just continuous supply of similar water to the water mass that maintain the bulk of it despite the diffusion?
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If I understand your question correctly, it’s because of the last option that you mention. For example, with fresh water rivers that flow into the ocean, like the Amazon, there is an area around the mouth of the river that is mixed fresh and salt water. Technically, it’s the ocean, but the water is noticeably less salty than most sea water.
The water that flows from the river into the sea does mix with sea water and gets carried away by ocean currents, but the area of fresh water near the river stays relatively constant in size because more fresh water flows in all the time to replace the water that was carried away earlier on.
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