Thermocline - Reflexions

Thermocline

A rapid variation in temperature. For example a thermocline, a quite large difference in temperature, might appear between two sea currents which are not producing enough energy to mix together. There are diurnal thermoclines and seasonal thermoclines. In Summer, whilst bathing we might feel that the sea’s surface temperature is pleasant, yet in diving down two metres we might note that the water is colder. This is a diurnal thermocline, due to the surface water being warmed by the Sun. In deeper waters we find seasonal thermoclines which vary according to the oceans’ dynamic. For example if in the Mediterranean the surface water is 22°, it could be 12° at depths of 50m.