If I had to guess, it’s because the temperature above the water is constantly colder than the water itself – but that is what I actually don’t understand.
If the surface temperate is extremely colder than the temperature of the water itself, wouldn’t the cold “sink” that much faster, making the warm water “rise” at an equivalent rate, and thus forcing more of the cold water to the bottom?
Maybe a better post for stupid questions, but I’m very curious what causes this – perhaps this just applies to air, and not water? And if that’s the case, then also why?
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Others have not mentioned the critical factor that water (for whatever reason) is **most dense** at +4 degrees celcius. Not many, if any, other substances do this. This is also why it does not freeze at the bottom
If it was not for this peculiarity, we would not have life on earth as we know it
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