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Earth and Space Sciences · Glossary

What is Thermocline; halocline; pycnocline; deep ocean?

Also known as: thermocline · halocline · pycnocline · deep ocean

Definition 6.2 High School Earth and Space Sciences · Chapter 6 — The Layered Ocean

The thermocline is the layer below the mixed layer in which the temperature falls quickly with depth. The layer in which the salinity changes quickly with depth is a halocline; the layer in which the density increases quickly with depth is the pycnocline. Below them lies the deep ocean, cold and slowly changing.

Winter and summer in the North Atlantic (40.5°N, 30.5°W): monthly average temperatures for February and August. In February the mixed layer reaches about 170\, m; in August a warm layer about 15\, m thick lies on a seasonal thermocline. Data: World Ocean Atlas 2023, NOAA NCEI.
Winter and summer in the North Atlantic (40.5°N, 30.5°W): monthly average temperatures for February and August. In February the mixed layer reaches about 170 m170\,\mathrm{m}; in August a warm layer about 15 m15\,\mathrm{m} thick lies on a seasonal thermocline. Data: World Ocean Atlas 2023, NOAA NCEI.
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