thermocline

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thermocline Generally, a gradient of temperature change, but applied more particularly to the zone of rapid temperature change between the warm surface waters and cooler waters at depth. In the oceans, this zone of rapid temperature change starts at 10–500m below the surface and can extend down to more than 1500m. In polar regions the thermocline is generally absent since the ocean surface is covered with ice in winter and solar radiation is small in summer. In thermally stratified lakes in summer the thermocline separates the warm surface waters (epilimnion) from the cooler deep waters (hypolimnion).

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