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TIL that in oceans (assuming lack of salinity gradients) it's actually the coldest water that sinks:
> The temperature of maximum density and the freezing point of water decrease as salt is added to water, and the temperature of maximum density decreases more rapidly than the freezing point. At salinities less than 24.7 psu the density maximum is reached before the ice point, while at the higher salinities more typical of the open oceans the maximum density is never achieved naturally.
-- https://www.britannica.com/science/seawater/Thermal-properties
