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    Physical and Dynamical Oceanography: Centre For Atmospheric Sciences Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

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    Abhishek Pratap Singh
    The document discusses stratified layers in the ocean. It describes how the ocean typically has a surface mixed layer that overlies a pycnocline layer where density increases rapidly with depth. Below this lies the deep, cold, dense water layer. The mixed layer is typically 10-200m thick in tropical and mid-latitude regions and varies in depth and temperature from day to day and seasonally due to wind and heat/freshwater fluxes. Temperature generally decreases with depth, with the thermocline being the layer of rapid decrease. Thermoclines vary in depth and intensity by latitude and location.

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    Physical and Dynamical Oceanography: Centre For Atmospheric Sciences Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

    Uploaded by

    Abhishek Pratap Singh
    45 views11 pages
    The document discusses stratified layers in the ocean. It describes how the ocean typically has a surface mixed layer that overlies a pycnocline layer where density increases rapidly with depth. Below this lies the deep, cold, dense water layer. The mixed layer is typically 10-200m thick in tropical and mid-latitude regions and varies in depth and temperature from day to day and seasonally due to wind and heat/freshwater fluxes. Temperature generally decreases with depth, with the thermocline being the layer of rapid decrease. Thermoclines vary in depth and intensity by latitude and location.

    Original Description:

    ASL_737 at iit delhi

    Original Title

    ASL737_Module6

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    The document discusses stratified layers in the ocean. It describes how the ocean typically has a surface mixed layer that overlies a pycnocline layer where density increases rapidly with depth. Below this lies the deep, cold, dense water layer. The mixed layer is typically 10-200m thick in tropical and mid-latitude regions and varies in depth and temperature from day to day and seasonally due to wind and heat/freshwater fluxes. Temperature generally decreases with depth, with the thermocline being the layer of rapid decrease. Thermoclines vary in depth and intensity by latitude and location.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    45 views11 pages

    Physical and Dynamical Oceanography: Centre For Atmospheric Sciences Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

    Uploaded by

    Abhishek Pratap Singh
    The document discusses stratified layers in the ocean. It describes how the ocean typically has a surface mixed layer that overlies a pycnocline layer where density increases rapidly with depth. Below this lies the deep, cold, dense water layer. The mixed layer is typically 10-200m thick in tropical and mid-latitude regions and varies in depth and temperature from day to day and seasonally due to wind and heat/freshwater fluxes. Temperature generally decreases with depth, with the thermocline being the layer of rapid decrease. Thermoclines vary in depth and intensity by latitude and location.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 11

    Physical and Dynamical Oceanography

    (ASL 737)

    Dr. Vimlesh Pant

    Centre for Atmospheric Sciences


    Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
    Module - 6
    Stratified Layers in Ocean

    [Garrison, 2012]

    In most of the ocean, a surface zone (or mixed layer) of relatively


    warm, low-density water overlies a layer called the pycnocline.
    Density increases rapidly with depth in the pycnocline. Below the
    pycnocline lies the deep zone of cold, dense water
    Oceanic Mixed Layer (ML)

    Wind blowing on the ocean


    stirs the upper layers
    leading to a mixed layer
    having constant
    temperature and salinity
    from the surface down to a
    depth.

    The mixed layer is roughly 10–200 m thick over most of the


    tropical and mid-latitude belts.

    The depth and temperature of the mixed layer varies from day
    to day and from season to season
    Layers in the Ocean (Continued)
    ILD (Isothermal Layer Depth) is defined as the depth at
    which temperature decreases by 0.5oC from SST.

    MLD (Mixed Layer Depth) is defined as the depth where


    density has increased from its surface value by an amount
    that corresponds to a temperature drop of 0.5oC.

    Sometimes MLD also considered the depth where the


    density has increased by 0.125 kg/m3 from its sea surface
    value.

    The depth of MLD is determined by wind speed and the flux


    of heat and freshwater through the sea surface
    Temperature profile in ocean
    Temperature decreases with
    increasing depth. The layer in
    which temperature falls rapidly is
    known as ‘Thermocline’.

    Figure: Typical temperature


    profiles at polar, tropical, and
    middle (temperate) latitudes.
    Note that polar waters lack a
    thermocline.
    Thermocline depth and intensity
    also vary with season, local
    conditions (storms, for example),
    currents, and many other factors.
    [Garrison, 2012]
    Thermoclines are not identical in all areas or latitudes.

    Because the ocean is heated to a greater depth, the tropical


    thermocline is deeper than thermoclines at higher latitudes.
    It is also much more pronounced

    The transition to the colder, denser water below is more


    abrupt in the tropics than at high latitudes.

    Polar waters, which receive relatively little solar warmth, are


    not stratified by temperature and generally lack a
    thermocline because surface water in the polar regions is
    nearly as cold as water at great depths.
    [Talley et al, 2011]
    Typical potential temperature (°C)/depth (m) profiles for the open
    ocean in (a) the tropical western North Pacific (5°N), (b) the western
    and eastern subtropical North Pacific (24°N), and (c) the western
    subpolar North Pacific (47°N).
    Seasonal and permanent thermocline

    Seasonal
    thermocline varies
    slightly with the
    seasons ( 20 and
    200 m)
    Permanent
    thermocline is from
    below the seasonal
    thermocline
    Density and sigma-t of sea water
    Calculation of water movement requires measurements of density
    with an accuracy of a few parts per million
    In practice, density is not measured, it is calculated from in situ
    measurements of pressure, temperature, and conductivity using
    the equation of state for sea water.
    At the sea surface, density is typically 1027 kg/m3
    Generally we express density anomaly or Sigma (S,t,p), where
    S,t,p are salinity, temperature and pressure, respectively.
    σ(S, t, p) = ρ(S, t, p) − 1000 kg/m3

    If we are studying surface layers of the ocean, we can ignore


    compressibility, and we use a new quantity sigma-t
    σt = σ(S, t, 0)
    Salinity and Density Profiles in ocean

    Density increases with


    depth.
    Pycnocline is the layer
    (beloe mixed layer) where
    density rapidly increases
    with depth.

    Salinity profile is not well


    defined. It generally
    increases with depth BUT
    not necessarily (depends
    on the location)

    Halocline is the layer


    where salinity rapidly
    increases with the depth
    Courtesy: Sagar booklet, NIO, Goa

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