A seasonal climatology of the upper ocean pycnocline
Climatologies of the mixed layer depth (MLD) have been provided using several definitions based on temperature/density thresholds or hybrid approaches. The upper ocean pycnocline (UOP) that sits below the mixed layer base remains poorly characterized, though this transition layer is an ubiquitous fe...
Published in: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1120112 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1120112/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fmars.2023.1120112 2024-02-11T09:58:56+01:00 A seasonal climatology of the upper ocean pycnocline Sérazin, Guillaume Tréguier, Anne Marie de Boyer Montégut, Clément Agence Nationale de la Recherche 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1120112 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1120112/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Marine Science volume 10 ISSN 2296-7745 Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography journal-article 2023 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1120112 2024-01-26T10:09:10Z Climatologies of the mixed layer depth (MLD) have been provided using several definitions based on temperature/density thresholds or hybrid approaches. The upper ocean pycnocline (UOP) that sits below the mixed layer base remains poorly characterized, though this transition layer is an ubiquitous feature of the ocean surface layer. Available hydrographic profiles provide near-global coverage of the world’s ocean and are used to build a seasonal climatology of UOP properties – intensity, depth, thickness – to characterize the spatial and seasonal variations of upper ocean stratification. The largest stratification values O (10 −3 s −2 ) are found in the intertropical band, where seasonal variations of the UOP are also very small. The deepest (> 200 m) and least stratified O (10 −6 s −2 ) UOPs are found in winter along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and at high latitudes of the North Atlantic. The UOP thickness has a median value of 23 m with limited seasonal and spatial variations; only a few regions have UOP thicknesses exceeding 35 m. The UOP properties allow the characterization of the upper ocean restratification that generally occurs in early spring and is generally associated with large variability. Depending on the region, this restratification may happen gradually as around the Rockall plateau or abruptly as in the Kuroshio Extension. The UOP is also likely to merge intermittently with the permanent pycnocline in winter. The upper edge of the UOP is eventually close to MLD estimates, except in a few notable regions such as in the Pacific Warm Pool where barrier layers are important, and during wintertime at high latitudes of the North Pacific. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic North Atlantic Frontiers (Publisher) Antarctic Pacific Rockall Plateau ENVELOPE(-18.833,-18.833,56.333,56.333) The Antarctic Frontiers in Marine Science 10 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Frontiers (Publisher) |
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crfrontiers |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography Sérazin, Guillaume Tréguier, Anne Marie de Boyer Montégut, Clément A seasonal climatology of the upper ocean pycnocline |
topic_facet |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography |
description |
Climatologies of the mixed layer depth (MLD) have been provided using several definitions based on temperature/density thresholds or hybrid approaches. The upper ocean pycnocline (UOP) that sits below the mixed layer base remains poorly characterized, though this transition layer is an ubiquitous feature of the ocean surface layer. Available hydrographic profiles provide near-global coverage of the world’s ocean and are used to build a seasonal climatology of UOP properties – intensity, depth, thickness – to characterize the spatial and seasonal variations of upper ocean stratification. The largest stratification values O (10 −3 s −2 ) are found in the intertropical band, where seasonal variations of the UOP are also very small. The deepest (> 200 m) and least stratified O (10 −6 s −2 ) UOPs are found in winter along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and at high latitudes of the North Atlantic. The UOP thickness has a median value of 23 m with limited seasonal and spatial variations; only a few regions have UOP thicknesses exceeding 35 m. The UOP properties allow the characterization of the upper ocean restratification that generally occurs in early spring and is generally associated with large variability. Depending on the region, this restratification may happen gradually as around the Rockall plateau or abruptly as in the Kuroshio Extension. The UOP is also likely to merge intermittently with the permanent pycnocline in winter. The upper edge of the UOP is eventually close to MLD estimates, except in a few notable regions such as in the Pacific Warm Pool where barrier layers are important, and during wintertime at high latitudes of the North Pacific. |
author2 |
Agence Nationale de la Recherche |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sérazin, Guillaume Tréguier, Anne Marie de Boyer Montégut, Clément |
author_facet |
Sérazin, Guillaume Tréguier, Anne Marie de Boyer Montégut, Clément |
author_sort |
Sérazin, Guillaume |
title |
A seasonal climatology of the upper ocean pycnocline |
title_short |
A seasonal climatology of the upper ocean pycnocline |
title_full |
A seasonal climatology of the upper ocean pycnocline |
title_fullStr |
A seasonal climatology of the upper ocean pycnocline |
title_full_unstemmed |
A seasonal climatology of the upper ocean pycnocline |
title_sort |
seasonal climatology of the upper ocean pycnocline |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1120112 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1120112/full |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-18.833,-18.833,56.333,56.333) |
geographic |
Antarctic Pacific Rockall Plateau The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Pacific Rockall Plateau The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic North Atlantic |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science volume 10 ISSN 2296-7745 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1120112 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
10 |
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1790594777140428800 |