Temperature

• The temperature of the oceanic water is important for marine

organisms including plants (phytoplanktons) and animals
(zooplanktons). The temperature of sea water also affects the climate
of coastal lands and plants and animals.
• The study of both, surface and subsurface temperature of seawater is
significant. A standard type of thermometer is used to measure the
surface temperature while reversing thermometers and thermographs
are used to measure the subsurface temperature.
Radiation from the sun and sky
• The short-wave radiation that reaches the sea surface comes partly
directly from the sun and partly from the sky as reflected or scattered
radiation.
• The amount of radiation energy which is absorbed per unit volume in
the sea depends upon the amount of energy that reaches the sea
surface, the reflection from the sea surface, and the absorption
coefficients for total energy.
• The incoming radiation depends mainly upon the sun's altitude, the
atmosphere's absorption, and the cloudiness.
• With a clear sky and a high sun, about 85 percent of the radiation
comes directly from the sun and about 15 percent from the sky, but
with a low sun, the proportion from the sky is greater, reaching about
40 percent of the total with the sun 10 degrees above the horizon.
Processes that heat ocean water
• Absorption of radiation from the sun and the sky
• Convection of heat through the ocean bottom , from the interior of the
earth.
• Transformation of kinetic energy to heat.
• Heating due to chemical processes.
• Convection of sensible heat from the atmosphere.
• Condensation of water vapor.
Processes that cool ocean water
• Back radiation from the sea surface
• Convection of sensible heat to the atmosphere
• Evaporation
Ranges of ocean water temperature
• The oceans and seas get heated and cooled slower than the land surfaces.
Therefore, even if the solar insolation is maximum at noon, the ocean
surface temperature is highest at 2 p.m.
• The average diurnal or daily range of temperature is barely 1 degree in
oceans and seas.
• The highest temperature in surface water is attained at 2 p.m. and
the lowest, at 5 a.m.
• The diurnal range of temperature is highest in oceans if the sky is free of
clouds and the atmosphere is calm.
• The annual range of temperature is influenced by the annual variation of
insolation, the nature of ocean currents and the prevailing winds.
• The maximum and the minimum temperatures in oceans are slightly
delayed than those of land areas (the maximum being in August and
the minimum in February).
• The northern Pacific and northern Atlantic oceans have a greater range
of temperature than their southern parts due to a difference in the force
of prevailing winds from the land and more extensive ocean currents
in the southern parts of oceans.
• Besides annual and diurnal ranges of temperature, there are periodic
fluctuations of sea temperature also. For example, the 11-year sunspot
cycle causes sea temperatures to rise after a 11- year gap.
The distribution pattern of temperature of ocean
water

• (i) Vertical distribution (from surface water to the bottom)

• (ii) Horizontal distribution (temperature of surface water)
Since the ocean has three dimensional shapes, the depth of oceans,
besides latitudes, is also taken into account in the study of temperature
distribution.
Factors that affect the distribution of
temperature of ocean water
Latitudes

• The temperature of surface water decreases from equator towards the

poles because the sun’s rays become more and more slanting and thus
the amount of insolation decreases poleward accordingly.
• The temperature of surface water between 40°N and 40°S is lower
than air temperature but it becomes higher than air temperature
between 40th latitude and the poles in both the hemispheres.
 The unequal distribution of land and water

• The temperature of ocean water varies in the northern and the southern
hemispheres because of dominance of land in the former and water in
the latter.
• The oceans in the northern hemisphere receive more heat due to their
contact with larger extent of land than their counterparts in the
southern hemisphere and thus the temperature of surface water is
comparatively higher in the former than the latter.
• The isotherms are not regular and do not follow latitudes in the
northern hemisphere because of the existence of both warm and cold
land- masses whereas they (isotherms) are regular and follow latitudes
in the southern hemisphere because of the dominance of water.
• The temperature in the enclosed seas in low latitudes becomes higher
because of the influence of surrounding land areas than the open seas
e.g., the average annual temperature of surface water at the equator is
26.7°C (80°F) whereas it is 37.8°C (100°F) in the Red Sea and 34.4°C
(94°F) in the Persian Gulf.
 prevailing wind
• Wind direction largely affects the distribution of temperature of ocean
water.
• The winds blowing from the land towards the oceans and seas (e.g.,
offshore winds) drive warm surface water away from the coast resulting into
upwelling of cold bottom water from below.
• Thus, the replacement of warm water by cold water introduces longitudinal
variation in temperature.
• Contrary to this, the onshore winds pile up warm water near the coast and
thus raise the temperature.
• For example, trade winds cause low temperature (in the tropics along
the eastern margins of the oceans or the western coastal regions of the
continents) because they blow from the land towards the oceans
whereas these trade winds raise the temperature in the western margins
of the oceans or the eastern coastal areas of the continents because of
their onshore position.
• Similarly, the eastern margins of the oceans in the middle latitudes
(western coasts of Europe and North America) have relatively higher
temperature than the western margins of the oceans because of the
onshore position of the westerlies.
 Ocean currents
• Surface temperatures of the oceans are controlled by warm and cold
currents.
• Warm currents raise the temperature of the affected areas whereas cool
currents lower down the temperature.
• For example, the Gulf Stream raises the temperature near the eastern
coasts of N. America and the western coasts of Europe.
• Kuro Shio drives warm water away from the eastern coast of Asia and
raises the temperature near Alaska.
• Labrador cool current lowers down the temperature near north-east
coast of N. America.
• Similarly, the temperature of the eastern coast of Siberia becomes low
due to Kurile cool current.
• Warm currents raise the temperature more in the northern hemisphere
than in the southern hemisphere which is apparent from the fact that
the 5°C isotherm reaches 70° latitude in the northern Atlantic Ocean
whereas it is extended up to only 50° latitude in the southern Atlantic
Ocean.
• This is because of more dominant effects of the warm Brazil current in
the southern Atlantic Ocean.
 Minor factors include:

• (i) Submarine ridges

• (ii) Local weather conditions like storms, cyclones, hurricanes, fog,
cloudiness, evaporation and condensation, and
• (iii) Location and shape of the sea.
Horizontal distribution of temperature in
ocean
• On an average, the temperature of surface water of the oceans is
26.7°C (80°F) and the temperature gradually decreases from equator
towards the poles.
• The rate of decrease of temperature with increasing latitudes is
generally 0.5°F per latitude.
• The average temperatures become 22°C (73°F) at 20° latitude, 14°C
(57°F) at 40° latitude, and 0°C (32°F) near the poles.
• The oceans in the northern hemisphere record relatively higher
average temperature than in the southern hemisphere.
• The highest temperature is not recorded at the equator rather it is a bit north
of it. The average annual temperature of all the oceans is 17.2°C (63°F).
• The average annual temperatures for the northern and southern hemispheres
are 19.4°C (67°F) and 16.1°C (61°F) respectively.
• The variation of temperatures in the northern and southern hemispheres is
because of unequal distribution of land and ocean water.
• The decrease of temperature with increasing latitudes in the northern
Atlantic Ocean is very low because of warm ocean currents.
• The average temperature between 50°-70°N latitudes is recorded as
5°C (41°F). Temperature decreases with increasing latitudes and is
more pronounced in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
• The highest temperature of surface water of the oceans is at 5°N
latitude whereas the lowest temperature is recorded between 80°N at
the north pole and between 75°S at the south pole.
• The average annual temperature of the Pacific Ocean is slightly higher
than the Atlantic Ocean (16.91°C or 60°F) and the Indian Ocean (17°C
or 60.6°F).
• The lowest (3.3°C or 35.94°F) and the highest (32.2°C or 89.96°F)
temperatures of the oceans are recorded near New Scotland and in the
western Pacific Ocean respectively.
• The highest temperature of the Indian ocean (25°C or 82.4°F) is re-
corded in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal but the enclosed seas of
the Indian Ocean record still higher temperatures (Red Sea = 32.2°C
or 90°F and Persian Gulf = 34.4°C or 94°F).
• The average seasonal temperatures (February and August) of surface
water of the oceans have been represented through isotherms.
• The temperature of the surface water of the oceans is higher than the air
temperature above the ocean surface which means ocean surface gives off
heat to the atmosphere.
• This phenomenon influences the generation of oceanic circulation mainly
sea waves and ocean currents.
• It has been observed that the air temperature at the height of 8m from the
sea surface between 20°N and 55°S latitudes in the Atlantic Ocean is cooler
by 0.80°C than the sea surface.
• There is a lot of variation in the heat emitted from the oceans to the
atmosphere during winter and summer and this phenomenon causes
differences in air temperature over the oceans and the continents mainly
during the winter season.
• The temperature for January is 22.2°C higher over the oceans between 20°
and 80°N, while in July it is 4.8°C lower.
• The mean annual temperature is 7°C higher over the water meridian.
• The difference between air and sea surface temperatures causes fogs over
the seas and the oceans.
• This happens when warm air passes over a cold sea surface having the
temperature below dew point of the air.
• Consequently the air over the sea surface is cooled from below and sea fog
occurs.
• Generally, sea fogs are frequently formed during spring and early summer
because air coming from over the land is warmer while the sea surface is
still cold.
• Sea fogs are very common in the high latitudes but are generally absent in
the tropics.
Vertical distribution of temperature in ocean
• It may be pointed out that maximum temperature of the oceans is
always at their surface because it directly receives the insolation and
the heat is transmitted to the lower sections of the oceans through the
mechanism of conduction. In fact, the solar rays very effectively
penetrate upto 20m depth and they seldom go beyond 200m depth.
• Consequently, the temperature decreases from the ocean surface with
increasing depth but the rate of decrease of temperature with
increasing depth is not uniform everywhere. The temperature falls
very rapidly upto the depth of 200m and thereafter the rate of decrease
of temperature is slowed down.
From this stand point the oceans are vertically divided into two
zones

(1) Photic or euphotic zone represents the upper surface up to the depth
of 200m and receives solar radiation.

(2) Aphotic zone extends from 200m depth to the bottom and does not
receive solar rays.
[Link] the sea temperature decreases with increasing depth but the rate
of decrease of temperature is not uniform. The change in sea temperature
below the depth of 2000m is negligible.
[Link] and annual ranges of temperature cease after the depth of 5
fathoms (30 feet) and 100 fathoms (600 feet) respectively.
[Link] rate of decrease of temperature with increasing depth from equator
towards the poles is not uniform. Though the surface temperature of the seas
decreases from equator towards the poles but the temperature at the ocean
bottoms is uniform from the equator towards the pole, which means that the
rate of decrease of temperature with increasing depth is more rapid near the
equator than towards the poles.
[Link] areas from where sea surface water is driven away by offshore
winds resulting into upwelling of water from below record low
temperature at sea surface and thus the rate of decrease of temperature
with increasing depth becomes low.
Contrary to this the areas where there is pilling of sea water
because of onshore winds, record relatively high temperature at sea
surface and thus the rate of decrease of temperature with increasing
depth becomes rapid.
[Link] some areas high temperature is recorded at greater depths e.g., in
Sargasso Sea, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Sulu Sea etc. The Medi-
terranean Sea records 24.4°C at the depth of 1,829m whereas the
Indian Ocean has only 1.1°C temperature at the same depth. Such
anomalous conditions are noticed in the enclosed seas of low latitudes.
The temperature of the sea surface of the enclosed seas of high
latitudes is lower than the temperature below.
[Link] is clear-cut layered thermal structure of ocean water.
Vertically the oceans are divided into 3 layers from the stand point of
thermal conditions of seawater, in the lower and middle latitudes as
follows:
(1)The upper layer represents the top-layer of warm water mass
with a thickness of 500 meters with average temperature ranging between
20°C to 25°C. This lighter ocean water mass floats over the thickest heavy
water mass of the oceans extending up to the ocean bottoms. This layer is
present within the tropics throughout the year but it develops in middle
latitudes only during summer season.
(2)The lower layer extends beyond 1000m depth up to the ocean
bottoms. This layer is very cold and represents denser ocean water mass.
 (3)A transitional zone of rapid change of temperature with
increasing depth separates the upper and lower ocean water masses. This zone
of ocean water mass is called thermocline which extends between 300m-
1000m depth.
Besides, there are seasonal thermoclines between the depth of
40m and 100m. These seasonal thermoclines are formed due to the heating of
the water surface through solar radiation during the summer season. Diurnal
thermoclines also form in shallow depths, usually less than 10-15m. The polar
seas have only one layer of coldwater mass from the ocean surface (sea level)
to the deep ocean floor.