Because salinity (in concert with temperature) affects the density of seawater, it can play a role in its vertical stratification. Essentially, lower salinity water (= lower density) floats on top of higher salinity water (= higher density).
Alternative definition, a choice limited to one of two or more possibilities, as of things, propositions, or courses of action, the selection of which precludes any other possibility: You have the alternative of riding or walking. See more.
A theory of explanation might treat explanations in either a realist or an epistemic (that is, anti-realist) sense. A realist interpretation of explanation holds that the entities or processes an explanation posits actually exist--the explanation is a literal description of external reality.