convection current
Thermal fluid movement
A convection current is the circular movement of fluid—liquid or gas—driven by temperature differences.
Warmer fluid rises because it's less dense, while cooler fluid sinks, creating a continuous loop.
Convection currents distribute heat in oceans, the atmosphere, and Earth's mantle: Convection currents in the mantle drive the movement of tectonic plates.
- heatTransferred thermal energy
- hot airMeaningless boastful talk
- risingAct of ascending
- circulationMovement through a system
- thermalPertaining to warmth
fluid · air · mantle · plate tectonics · ocean · ocean floor · plume · lava lamp · warm · flow · magma · atmosphere · weather patterns · cells · movement · updraft · warm front · cooling
- currentsundercurrent, crosscurrent, countercurrent, Gulf Stream, jet stream
- convectionupdraft, downdraft, thermals, updrafts, downdrafts
- geohazardslandslides, rockslide, mudslide, mudflow, subsidence
convection currentconduction
Heat transfer through contact
radiation · electromagnetic radiation · infrared radiation · thermal radiation · thermal conduction
convect, convection, convective, current, currents, currently, currency, currencies