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Graph showing ocean temperature versus depth on the vertical axis. The graph shows several thermoclines (or thermal layers) based on seasons and latitude. The temperature at zero depth is the sea surface temperature. The ocean temperature plays a crucial role in the global climate system, ocean currents and for marine habitats.
A new thermocline develops where the densest water (4 °C (39 °F)) sinks to the bottom, and the less dense water (water that is approaching the freezing point) rises to the top. Once this new stratification establishes itself, it lasts until the water warms enough for the 'spring turnover,' which occurs after the ice melts and the surface ...
Seawater temperatures below the freezing point of freshwater (0 °C or 32 °F) are possible due to the greater salinity in the Southern Ocean waters. [10] Notothenioids have an estimated depth range of about 0–1,500 m (0–4,921 ft).
As seawater freezes in the polar ocean, salt brine concentrates are expelled from the sea ice, creating a downward flow of dense, extremely cold, saline water, with a lower freezing point than the surrounding water. When this plume comes into contact with the neighboring ocean water, its extremely low temperature causes ice to instantly form ...
Below that temperature, but above the freezing point of 0 °C (32 °F), it expands becoming less dense until it reaches freezing point, reaching a density in its liquid phase of 999.8 kg/m 3 (62.4155 lb/cu ft). Once it freezes and becomes ice, it expands by about 9%, with a density of 917 kg/m 3 (57.25 lb/cu ft).
Historically, on the Fahrenheit scale the freezing point of water was 32 °F, and the boiling point was 212 °F (at standard atmospheric pressure). This put the boiling and freezing points of water 180 degrees apart. [8] Therefore, a degree on the Fahrenheit scale was 1 ⁄ 180 of the interval between the freezing point and the boiling point ...
The extent of the ocean surface down into the ocean is influenced by the amount of mixing that takes place between the surface water and the deeper water. This depends on the temperature: in the tropics the warm surface layer of about 100 m is quite stable and does not mix much with deeper water, while near the poles winter cooling and storms makes the surface layer denser and it mixes to ...
The temperature of the surface water of the Arctic Ocean is fairly constant at approximately −1.8 °C (28.8 °F), near the freezing point of seawater. The density of sea water, in contrast to fresh water, increases as it nears the freezing point and thus it tends to sink.