Construct · 1 fields · 1 citations

thermocline: a standalone construct

One name. One construct. A landmark on the map.

● anchor · the layer where temperature drops fast with depth Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
thermocline1 CONSTRUCTThermoclinePICKARD & EMERY · DPO

A single standalone construct; nearby constructs are located against it in the Collider. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

Physical oceanography & limnology

The sharp vertical temperature gradient under the surface layer

A thermocline is the depth interval in a body of water across which temperature falls rapidly with depth, separating the warm, wind-mixed surface layer above from the cold deep water below. Pickard and Emery's Descriptive physical oceanography describes the seasonal thermocline that forms and decays with summer heating and the permanent thermocline of the open ocean; the equivalent layer in a stratified lake is the metalimnion, between the warm epilimnion and cold hypolimnion. Because the sharp density change that accompanies it resists vertical motion, the thermocline acts as a barrier to mixing between surface and deep water, shaping where heat, oxygen, and nutrients can travel.[1]

Unit
The depth and thickness of the layer of maximum temperature decrease with depth
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Located from temperature-depth profiles (CTD or bathythermograph) as the zone of maximum vertical temperature gradient

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Nearby constructs

pycnocline1 fields · 1 citationsanchor · the layer where water density rises fast with depthbarrier4 fields · 7 citationsjingle · one word, four constructsbody2 fields · 3 citationsjingle · one word, two constructs

References

  1. Pickard, G. L., & Emery, W. J. (1995). Descriptive physical oceanography: An introduction (5th ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 9780750627597

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