Temperature of the Oceans

Temperature of the Oceans

Factors which affect the ocean temperature 

1.   Insolation (which depends on Latitude) 

• Along the lower latitudes, higher insolation results in higher temperature.
• Whereas along the higher latitudes, lower insolation results in lower temperature.

2.   Winds 

• Regions where westerlies are more active experience higher temperature than the regions where polar winds blows.

3.   Ocean Currents 

• They help in heat balance between Equatorial and Polar region.
• Warm ocean currents result in increase of temperature of the ocean whereas cold ocean cause a decrease in the ocean temperature.
• For example - Gulf Stream which is warm ocean current increases the ocean temperature and keeps the Britain coast ice free even during winter.

4.   Extent of landmass 

• Seas which are completely surrounded by lands (like Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, etc) will have higher water temperature due to continentality effect.

Vertical distribution of Temperature in oceans 

• The temperature of the ocean water decreases with depth, however the pattern of decrease is not uniform across all latitudes.
• Ocean water can be differentiated into 3 layers of different temperatures -

1. Epilimnion
2. Metalimnion/Thermocline
3. Hypolimnion

• Epilimnion - 
• It extends upto a depth of 200 m with average temperature of 20℃ to 24℃. 
• It is the zone of constant sunlight and mixing due to winds.
• It is the zone of uniform temperature.
• Metalimnion -
• It is the zone where temperature decreases rapidly with decrease in depth
• It is also known as Thermocline.
• Hypolimnion -
• It is the zone of uniform temperature and very cold waters with average temperature of 4℃.
• Here, Sunlight is totally absent.

Q.   What is the temperature of water present at the Ocean bottom?

• The temperature of the water present at the Ocean bottom is 4℃.
• It is because water achieves maximum density at 4℃.

Horizontal distribution of Temperature 

• The surface water temperature lies between 20℃ to 25℃ in the Tropical regions and decreases gradually as we move towards the poles.
• The three distinguish layers are visible along the Tropical region but they are absent in Polar regions and are present as a single uniform layer of low temperature.

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Next Article - Salinity of the Oceans

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Note - This is my Vision IAS Notes (Vision IAS Class Notes) and Ashutosh Pandey Sir's Public Administration Class notes. I've also added some of the information on my own. 

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