A Predictive Horizontal-Temperature-Gradient Model of the Upper 750 Feet of the Ocean

摘要

Time-dependent horizontal-temperature gradients were computed from vertical-temperature cross sections taken with the towed thermistor chain in 17 areas of the eastern North Pacific. The horizontal gradients were found to be generally smaller than the vertical gradients by two orders of magnitude. The horizontal-gradient field alternated regularly in sign, implying a dominant frequency of internal waves or convection cells (with a corresponding wavelength of 0.72 nautical mile). The horizontal gradient in the thermocline can be predicted from the measured vertical gradient by means of the equation: dT/dx = 0.0047(dT/dz) to the 0.71 power. On the basis of these results, plus a single bathythermograph lowering, a simplified predictive model of the horizontal-temperature gradients was constructed. (Author)