Definitions
1.NounThe process by which two masses of water with different temperatures and salinities mix to form a new water mass with a density higher than the density of either parent water mass; also, the sinking of the new water mass as the effect of its increased density.
2.Noun↑ Theodore D. Foster (July 1972), “An Analysis of the Cabbeling Instability in Sea Water”, in Journal of Physical Oceanography, volume 2, number 3, →DOI, page 296:Witte thought that the process would be so effective that the sinking would give rise to a rippled or choppy appearance of the sea surface, which in German nautical terminology has been designated "Kabbelung". There is a not very common English cognate "cobbeling" (Webster's Second New International Dictionary) for this word, but the term does not seem to have been generally accepted by oceanographers. There appears to be a great diversity of opinion about the correct spelling of the English word for this mixing process partly, perhaps, due to different opinions concerning the etymology of the word. One opinion is that the word should be spelled "caballing" meaning "to unite in an intrigue" since the two components conspire to form a more dense mixture. Another opinion is that "Kabbelung" should be anglicized to "cabbeling" and can be used to designate the mixing process itself rather than the appearance of a choppy sea surface which was evidently Witte's intention. Rather than introduce a new term we shall follow Stommel (1960, p. 31) and refer to the process as "cabbeling".
3.Noun↑ E. Witte (1902), “Zur Theorie den Stromkabbelungen”, in Gaea: Natur und Leben, Cologne: E. H. Mayer, →OCLC, pages 484–487.
4.Noun↑ Henry M. Stommel (1960), The Gulf Stream: A Physical and Dynamical Description, Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, →OCLC, page 31.