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Only the top layer of water needs to cool to the freezing point. [11] Convection of the surface layer involves the top 100–150 m (330–490 ft), down to the pycnocline of increased density. In calm water, the first sea ice to form on the surface is a skim of separate crystals which initially are in the form of tiny discs, floating flat on the ...
A thermocline (also known as the thermal layer or the metalimnion in lakes) is a distinct layer based on temperature within a large body of fluid (e.g. water, as in an ocean or lake; or air, e.g. an atmosphere) with a high gradient of distinct temperature differences associated with depth.
Most of this meltwater is transferred to the ocean, while some of it migrates to the surface melt ponds, the sea ice matrix, and under-ice meltwater layers. False bottoms form due to a substantial difference in freezing temperatures of water with different salinities. Their formation in summer was first documented by Fridtjof Nansen in 1897. [10]
The steady rise in ocean temperatures is an unavoidable result of the Earth's energy imbalance, which is primarily caused by rising levels of greenhouse gases. [36] Between pre-industrial times and the 2011–2020 decade, the ocean's surface has heated between 0.68 and 1.01 °C. [37]: 1214
Between 1960 and 2018, upper ocean stratification increased between 0.7 and 1.2% per decade due to climate change. [1] This means that the differences in density of the layers in the oceans increase, leading to larger mixing barriers and other effects.
Below this mixed layer, at depths of 200–300 m in the open ocean, the temperature begins to decrease rapidly down to about 1000 m. The water layer within which the temperature gradient is steepest is known as the permanent thermocline. [5] The temperature difference through this layer may be as large as 20°C, depending on latitude.
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The largest part of the Arctic Ocean has a strong division between ocean layers. At the top is a mixed layer of fresh water with a temperature near the freezing point and a salinity of around 30 psu (practical salinity unit). [4] This water is fed by rivers and melting of sea-ice.