 Propiedades físicas del

océano

L. Talley
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
OCEANOGRAFÍA FÍSICA University of California San Diego
TYPICAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF WATER PROPERTIES
L. TALLEY
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California San Diego

First part Second part

1. Definitions - structures 5. Upper layer
2. Concepts 6. Intermediate layer
3. Water masses 7. Deep and bottom layers
4. 4-layer structure
1. REVIEW: SURFACE TEMPERATURE: NOTE WHERE THE 4°C
ISOTHERM OCCURS (MOST OCEAN VOLUME IS COLDER THAN THIS)

DPO Figure 4.1: Winter data from Levitus and Boyer (1994)
1. REVIEW: SURFACE SALINITY

Surface salinity (psu) in winter (January, February, and March north of the equator; July, August, and
September south of the equator) based on averaged (climatological) data from Levitus et al. (1994b).
DPO Fig. 4.15
1. REVIEW: SURFACE DENSITY (WINTER)

Surface density sq (kg m–3) in winter (January, February, and March north of the equator; July, August, and September south of the
equator) based on averaged (climatological) data from Levitus and Boyer (1994) and Levitus et al. (1994b).
DPO Figure 4.19
2. DEFINITIONS: STRUCTURES
EXAMPLE: PACIFIC POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE SECTION
thermocline

DPO Fig. 4.12a

2. DEFINITIONS: VERTICAL STRUCTURES (TEMPERATURE)

Mixed layer

Thermocline

Thermostad

Dichothermal layer
(Tminimum)

Typical North Pacific profiles

DPO Figure 4.2
PACIFIC POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE SECTION
Mixed layer Thermostad Thermocline

thermocline
Dichothermal layer
(T minimum)

DPO Fig. 4.12a

2. DEFINITIONS: MIXED LAYER

Typically 20 to 200 m (late winter)

Thicker (> 500) in some special locations, notably in (1) band in the Southern Ocean and (2)
northern North Atlantic

DPO Fig. 4.4c from Holte et al.

2. DEFINITIONS: THERMOSTADS (PYCNOSTADS)
Location of thermostads - coordinated structures, derived from thick winter mixed layers that are
capped at the top by spring-summer warming, then spread into the interior along isopycnals

Hanawa and Talley (2001); DPO 14.12

2. DEFINITIONS: PACIFIC SALINITY VERTICAL SECTION
Salinity minimum layers - intermediate waters
Salinity maximum layers (Antarctic and North Pacific I.W.)

DPO Fig. 4.12b

2. DEFINITIONS:
SALINITY
X X
X X

Halocline
Salinity minimum
2/27/2018 TALLEY SIO210 (2016)
2. DEFINITIONS: SHALLOW
SALINITY MAXIMUM LAYER
(WATER MASS NAME:
“SUBTROPICAL UNDERWATER”)

Vertical sections of (a) salinity and (b) oxygen

(mmol/kg) with selected potential density contours,
along approximately 25°W in the Atlantic Ocean.
(c) Salinity at sq = 25.0 kg/m3.

DPO FIGURE S9.28

2. DEFINITIONS: INTERMEDIATE WATER MASSES
(SALINITY EXTREMA)
Low salinity intermediate layers (salinity minimum layers)

High salinity intermediate layers (salinity maximum layers)

DPO Fig. 14.13

PACIFIC SECTION OF POTENTIAL DENSIT(IES)

DPO Fig. 4.12

 2. DEFINITIONS: TYPICAL POTENTIAL DENSITY
STRUCTURE
Pycnocline:
Where density changes rapidly
(large vertical gradient)

Pycnostad:
Where density changes slowly (small
vertical gradient), generally refers
to being embedded in the
pycnocline, hence in the upper
ocean.

DPO Figure 4.20

 2. DEFINITIONS: SUMMARY OF TERMINOLOGY
FOR VERTICAL STRUCTURE
Mixed layer

Thermocline, halocline, pycnocline:

Vertical locations of high vertical gradient
(large ΔT/Δz, for thermocline, etc.)

Thermostad, halostad, pycnostad:

Vertical locations of low gradient, usually embedded in the …cline
(small ΔT/Δz, for thermostad, etc.)

Vertical extrema sometimes have names:

salinity minima, temperature minima or maxima, etc. (e.g. dichothermal layer for very shallow temperature minimum
usually in high latitudes
 3. CONCEPTS AND MECHANISMS FOR OCEAN PROPERTY
DISTRIBUTIONS
Flow is 3-dimensional:
east, north, vertical
x, y, z in local Cartesian coordinates
longitude, latitude, vertical (l, f, z) in geographic
coordinates.

Also very useful to think of flow relative to isopycnal surfaces,

which are not flat:
•“x”,”y” along isopycnals, “z” diapycnal
 3. CONCEPTS AND MECHANISMS FOR OCEAN
PROPERTY DISTRIBUTIONS
a) Ventilation (“breathing”): properties of ocean waters are mostly set initially at the sea surface
(heat, freshwater, gas exchange) and modified internally (mixing, biological processes,
radioactive decay)

b) Isentropic (isopycnic) flow and mixing is much easier than diapycnal flow and mixing, so water
parcels tend to follow isopycnals as they enter the ocean interior.

c) Diapycnal mixing and diapycnal velocity are important for largest scale distributions

d) Ocean tracers: chemical and dynamical properties that allow flow to be traced (from PPSW2
lecture)
3. CONCEPTS: (A) VENTILATION (UPPER OCEAN)
THROUGH SUBDUCTION

Subduction: flow from surface mixed layer into interior along isopycnals.

DPO Figure 7.15

3. CONCEPTS: (A) VENTILATION (UPPER OCEAN) THROUGH
SUBDUCTION
3D North Atlantic STUW

Example: STUW is ventilated through

subduction. Highest surface salinity water
can be seen moving down .

Schmitt and Blair (Oceanography, 2015)

3. CONCEPTS: (A) VENTILATION OF THE UPPER OCEAN

400 m depth

300 m depth

Surface outcrop: source of water for the this shallow isopycnal

Water in ocean interior originates at surface outcrops. (There is no interior source of high density.)
The water mostly flows into the ocean interior along isopycnals (presuming only weak diapycnal
mixing).
WOCE Pacific Atlas (2007)
3. CONCEPTS: (A) VENTILATION OF THE DEEP OCEAN

Localized deep convection or brine rejection at high latitudes, with subsequent local turbulent
mixing and then flow mostly along isopycnals

DPO Fig. 14.14a

3. CONCEPTS: (A) VENTILATION OF THE DEEP OCEAN

Low O2
4000 m depth (old water)

3000 m depth High O2

(new water)

Very local high latitude sources of water for this deep isopycnal

(Sources for this deep isopycnal include various sea ice formation regions along Antarctica, and dense
water formation in the Nordic Seas, north of the N. Atlantic)
WOCE Pacific Atlas (2007)
3. CONCEPTS: (B) ISENTROPIC PROCESSES

Flow and mixing is mostly along isopycnals

(isentropes, isoneutral surfaces).
Diapycnal flow requires diapycnal mixing,
which is very weak (but crucially important at
largest scales, even though flow and mixing
are dominantly along-isopycnal).
3. CONCEPTS: (D) TRACERS
Use tracers to help determine pathways of circulation, age of waters

o Conservative vs. non-conservative

o Natural vs. anthropogenic
o Radioactive vs. stable

Commonly used tracers, e.g. oxygen, nutrients, carbon system, chlorofluorocarbons,

helium isotopes, oxygen isotopes, carbon isotopes,
TRACERS ON ISOPYCNAL SURFACES

Oxygen Chlorofluorocarbons

WHP Pacific Atlas (Talley, 2007)

TRACERS ON ISOPYCNALS

WHP Pacific Atlas (Talley, 2007)

4. WATER MASSES
(TOMCZAK AND GODFREY, CH. 5 DEFINITIONS)

Water mass: “body of water with a common formation history”. Names are
capitalized.
A water mass has
an identifiable property (usually an extremum of some sort)
an identifiable formation process
Water type: point on a temperature-salinity diagram (or more carefully, point in
property-property-property-nthproperthy space)

Source water type: water type at the source of water mass

In practice, we just name the first, but are always aware that there are specific
properties at the sources.
4. WATER MASS
Example: Antarctic Intermediate Water - (a) low salinity layer, (b) originating in surface mixed
layers near Antarctic Circumpolar Current

Blue: N. Atlantic >

15°N
Red: 15°S-15°N
Green: S. Atlantic <
15°S
5. THE (APPROXIMATELY) 4-LAYERED STRUCTURE OF THE
OCEAN

We can use four layers to describe the world’s oceans:

1. Upper ocean (down through the permanent pycnocline)

2. Intermediate layer
3. Deep layer
4. Bottom layer
5. ATLANTIC VERTICAL SECTION: OVERALL VERTICAL
STRUCTURE OF 4 LAYERS
1. Upper

2. Intermediate

3. Deep

4. Abyssal

DPO Fig. 4.11

5. ATLANTIC VERTICAL SECTION: OVERALL VERTICAL
STRUCTURE OF 4 LAYERS
1. Upper

2. Intermediate

3. Deep

4. Abyssal

DPO Fig. 4.11

5. ATLANTIC VERTICAL SECTION: OVERALL VERTICAL
STRUCTURE, 4 LAYERS
1. Upper

2. Intermediate

3. Deep

4. Abyssal

DPO Fig. 4.11

5. ATLANTIC VERTICAL SECTION: 4 LAYERS AND
EXAMPLES OF THE NAMED WATER MASSES
Central Water

Antarctic Intermediate Water

MediterraneanWater

Labrador Sea
Water
North Atlantic Deep Water

Antarctic Bottom Water

DPO Fig. 4.11

THE APPROXIMATELY LAYERED STRUCTURE OF THE TOP-
TO-BOTTOM OCEAN: NOW IN MORE DETAIL
5. Upper ocean (down through the permanent pycnocline)
a. Surface mixed layer
b. Pycnocline/thermocline
c. Pycnostad/thermostad embedded in pycnocline (“mode
water”)
6. Intermediate layer
7. Deep and bottom layers
5. UPPER OCEAN
 Characterization: Surface mixed layer down through the main pycnocline.
 Location: In the tropics and subtropics and into the subpolar regions (bounded by the Antarctic
Circumpolar Current to the south, and the northern marginal seas to the north)
 Formation mechanisms: late winter mixed layer properties are “subducted” into the ocean
interior (slide down slightly inclined isopycnals from the mixed layer). “Central Water”
 Mixed layer properties are set by air-sea fluxes, and depth by wind stirring or buoyancy-
driven convection
5. UPPER LAYER WATER MASSES
 Central Water

 Mode Water

 Salinity maximum water (Subtropical Underwater)

5A. MIXED LAYERS
Surface layer of the ocean is almost always vertically mixed to some degree
In summer, calm, warm conditions, the mixed layer might be very thin (several
meters)
At the end of winter, after the full season of cooling and storms, mixed layers
reach their maximum thickness

Mixed layers are created by

 Wind stirring (max. depth of such a mixed layer is around 100 m)
 Cooling and evaporation (increasing the density of the surface water), which
creates vertical convection. Max. depth of these mixed layers can range up to
about 1000 m, but is mainly 200-300 m.
 5A. MAXIMUM MIXED LAYER DEPTH (LATE WINTER)

Typically 20 to 200 m
Thicker (> 500) in some special
locations,

notably in
(1) band in the Southern Ocean
and (2) northern North Atlantic

DPO Fig. 4.4c from Holte et al

Using delta T = 0.2°C
5A. MIXED LAYER DEVELOPMENT
Winter development of mixed layer:
Wind stirring and cooling erode
stratification, gradually deepening the
mixed layer to maximum depth at the
end of winter (Feb. to April depending
on location)

Summer restratification:
Warming at the top adds stratified
layer at surface, usually leaves
Large, McWilliams and Doney (Rev. Geophys remnant of winter mixed layer below.
1994)
DPO Figure 4.8
MIXED LAYER DEVELOPMENT
Winter development of mixed layer:
Wind stirring and cooling erode stratification,
gradually deepening the mixed layer to maximum
depth at the end of winter (Feb. to April
depending on location)

Summer restratification:
Warming at the top adds stratified layer at
surface, usually leaves remnant of winter mixed
layer below.

DPO Figure 7.3

5B. THE APPROXIMATELY LAYERED STRUCTURE OF THE TOP-
TO-BOTTOM OCEAN

5. Upper ocean (down through the permanent pycnocline)

a. Surface mixed layer
b. Pycnocline/thermocline
c. Pycnostad/thermostad embedded in pycnocline (“mode water”)
6. Intermediate layer
7. Deep layer
8. Bottom layer
5B. THERMOCLINE (PYCNOCLINE)

(1)
DPO Fig. 4.5
Two separate physical processes:
1. Vertical balance: mixing between warm, light surface waters and cold, dense deep waters, plus
upwelling (diffusive process)
2. Circulation of denser surface waters down into interior and thus beneath the lower density surface
layers (subduction) (advective process)
 5B. THERMOCLINE (PYCNOCLINE)

(2)
Two separate physical processes: DPO Fig. 7.15

1. Vertical balance: mixing between warm, light surface waters and cold, dense deep waters, plus
upwelling (diffusive process)
2. Circulation of denser surface waters down into interior and thus beneath the lower density surface
layers (subduction) (advective process)
 5B. CREATION OF THE THERMOCLINE THROUGH
SUBDUCTION

Iselin (1939): equivalence of surface properties

on transect through N. Atlantic with properties
on a vertical profile in the subtropical gyre -->
hypothesized that properties are advected into
the interior from the sea surface

• Circles: section 1
• Squares: section 2
• Continuous plots: vertical
profiles
x x
5C. THE APPROXIMATELY LAYERED STRUCTURE OF THE
TOP-TO-BOTTOM OCEAN

5. Upper ocean (down through the permanent pycnocline)

a. Surface mixed layer
b. Pycnocline/thermocline
c. Pycnostad/thermostad embedded in pycnocline (“mode
water”)
6. Intermediate layer
7. Deep and bottom layers
5C. THERMOSTAD DEVELOPMENT: SUBTROPICAL MODE WATER
(EIGHTEEN DEGREE WATER)

Pot.
WHP Atlas Temp.
Atlantic q

Section across Gulf Stream

• Thickening of isotherms/isopycnals is
the thermostad/pycnostad
• Forms at surface as a thick mixed
layer near Gulf Stream in late winter. Neutral
• Circulates into the interior south of the density
Gulf Stream along isopycnals
5C. MODE WATER: DEFINITION, LOCATION AND
DEVELOPMENT
Pycnostads/thermostads embedded in the pycnocline occur in identifiable regions
They usually occur on the warm (low density) side of strong currents
Example (previous slide): Gulf Stream has a pycnostad/thermostad at about 18°C on
its south (warm) side.
Because a pycnostad has a large volume of water in a given temperature-salinity
interval, these waters were termed “Mode Waters”, to indicate that the the mode of
the distribution of volume in T/S space occurs in these particular T/S ranges.
 5C. MODE WATERS
Location of especially strong, permanent thermostads/pycnostads - derived
from thick winter mixed layers that then spread into the interior along isopycnals
(subduct)

Gulf Stream’s Eighteen

Degree Water
(Subtropical Mode Water
of the North Atlantic) from
previous slide

Hanawa and Talley (2001); DPO 14.12

5C. IMPORTANCE OF MODE WATERS FOR DISSOLVED GAS
INVENTORIES
Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) water column inventory (conservative anthropogenic tracer)

Willey et al. (GRL 2004)

5C. IMPORTANCE OF MODE WATERS FOR DISSOLVED GAS
INVENTORIES

Anthropogenic CO2

Khatiwala et al. (Biogeosciences 2013)

THE APPROXIMATELY LAYERED STRUCTURE
OF THE TOP-TO-BOTTOM OCEAN

We are using four layers to describe the world’s oceans.

5. Upper ocean (down through the permanent pycnocline)
6. Intermediate layer
7. Deep and bottom layer
6. FOUR LAYERS: INTERMEDIATE LAYER
Characterization: large-scale salinity maximum and minimum layers.
Location: just below the pycnocline in most of the ocean (especially tropics and subtropics),
roughly 1000 to 2000 m depth.
Originate from very specific sources (“injection sites”) in the Labrador Sea (“Labrador Sea
Water”), the Mediterranean Sea (“Mediterranean Water”), the Red Sea (“Red Sea Water”), the
Okhotsk Sea (“North Pacific Intermediate Water”), and the Drake Passage region (“Antarctic
Intermediate Water”).
Formation mechanisms: Deep convection (reaching to about 1500 m); brine rejection; vigorous
mixing where boundary currents meet; otherwise nearly-isopycnal spreading
 6. INTERMEDIATE WATER MASSES

Intermediate water
production sites

Pacific intermediate
waters from previous slide

DPO Fig. 14.13

Labrador Sea Water: salinity minimum, deep convection in Labrador Sea

Mediterranean Overflow Water: salinity maximum, evaporation and cooling in Mediterranean Sea,
overflow
Antarctic Intermediate Water: salinity minimum, medium convection in Drake Passage region
Red Sea Overflow Water: salinity maximum, evaporation in Red Sea, overflow
North Pacific Intermediate Water (Okhotsk Sea): salinity minimum, brine rejection in the Okhotsk Sea
6. PACIFIC INTERMEDIATE WATERS
Intermediate depth (500-2000 m), vertical salinity minima
Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW)

DPO Fig. 4.12

 6. INTERMEDIATE WATER MASSES
Intermediate water
production sites

Atlantic intermediate
waters from previous slide

DPO Fig. 14.13

Labrador Sea Water: salinity minimum, deep convection in Labrador Sea

Mediterranean Overflow Water: salinity maximum, evaporation and cooling in Mediterranean Sea,
overflow
Antarctic Intermediate Water: salinity minimum, medium convection in Drake Passage region
Red Sea Overflow Water: salinity maximum, evaporation in Red Sea, overflow
North Pacific Intermediate Water (Okhotsk Sea): salinity minimum, brine rejection in the Okhotsk Sea
6. ATLANTIC INTERMEDIATE WATERS
Intermediate depth (500-2000 m), vertical salinity minima AND maximum
Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) Mediterranean Water (MW)
Labrador Sea Water
(LSW)

DPO Fig. 4.11

6. ATLANTIC INTERMEDIATE WATERS VIEWED IN POTENTIAL
TEMPERATURE-SALINITY
Mediterranean Overflow
Water
Labrador Sea Water
North Atlantic Deep Water
Antarctic Intermediate Water
Antarctic Bottom Water

Blue: N. Atlantic > 15°N

Red: 15°S-15°N
Green: S. Atlantic < 15°S
THE APPROXIMATELY LAYERED STRUCTURE OF THE
TOP-TO-BOTTOM OCEAN

We are using four layers to describe the world’s oceans.

5. Upper ocean (down through the permanent pycnocline)
6. Intermediate layer
7. Deep and bottom layer
 7. FOUR LAYERS: DEEP LAYER
Characterization: This is a thick layer below the intermediate layer and above the bottom waters,
characterized by extrema of salinity, oxygen, nutrients.
Location: Roughly from 2000 to 4000 m depth.
The “North Atlantic Deep Water” originates through deep water formation processes north of the
N. Atlantic (joined by Labrador Sea and Mediterranean Sea intermediate waters). It is relatively
“new”.
The “Pacific Deep Water” originates through slow upwelling of bottom waters in the Pacific, and is
the oldest water in the ocean. The “Indian Deep Water” is similar to the PDW.
The “Circumpolar Deep Water” is a mixture of these new (NADW) and old (PDW and IDW)
waters, plus new deep waters formed in the Antarctic (Weddell Sea etc.).
7. FOUR LAYERS: DEEP LAYER (CONTINUED)

Formation mechanisms and history: varied including

deep convection (Nordic Seas, Labrador Sea)
brine rejection (Antarctic contribution to deep water)
upwelling (ocean-wide)
vigorous mixing at specific sites (strait overflows)
spreading along isopycnals with minimal mixing
7. FOUR LAYERS: BOTTOM LAYER
Characterization: Densest, coldest layer
Location: ocean bottom, usually connotes very dense water from the Antarctic.
Various names:
“Antarctic Bottom Water”
“Lower Circumpolar Deep Water”
Formation mechanism: brine rejection close to Antarctica
7. BOTTOM PROPERTIES

Potential temperature: high in N.

Atlantic and eastern S. Atlantic (other
highs are due to shallower bottom)

Salinity: high in N. Atlantic and Indian

DPO 14.14b,c
(Mantyla and Reid, 1983)
 7. DEEP AND BOTTOM WATER
Deep and bottom water
production sites sites

DPO Fig. 14.14a

North Atlantic Deep Water: high salinity, high oxygen; mixture of NSOW, LSW and MOW; formed at
sea surface through deep convection

Antarctic Bottom Water: very cold, high oxygen; formed near sea surface along coast of Antarctica
through sea ice formation-brine rejection

Indian and Pacific Deep Waters: low oxygen, high nutrients; slow upwelling and slow deep mixing of
inflowing NADW and AABW
 7. ATLANTIC DEEP AND BOTTOM WATERS

Antarctic Bottom
Water (AABW)

Cold bottom waters

from Antarctic
region
7. ATLANTIC DEEP AND BOTTOM WATERS

North Atlantic Deep Water

(NADW)
(high salinity in tropics and
S. Atlantic)

Antarctic Bottom
Water

DPO Fig. 4.11

7. ATLANTIC DEEP AND BOTTOM WATERS
(This very low O2 is due to intense biological activity and not age)

Labrador Sea Water

North Atlantic Deep

Water (NADW)
(high oxygen)

Antarctic Bottom
Water

DPO Fig. 4.11

7. NADW AND AABW IN THE ABYSSAL OCEAN
NADW and AABW both occupy the
deep and bottom layers, although
AABW clearly dominates at the
bottom.

Maps of the fraction of water at mid-

depth and at the bottom that are
NADW or AABW. (Only two water
masses were included in the analysis:
these are the surface source waters.)

(Johnson et al., 2008)

DPO 14.15
7. ATLANTIC DEEP/BOTTOM WATERS VIEWED IN POTENTIAL
TEMPERATURE-SALINITY
Mediterranean Overflow
Water
Labrador Sea Water
North Atlantic Deep Water
Antarctic Intermediate Water
Antarctic Bottom Water

Blue: N. Atlantic > 15°N

Red: 15°S-15°N
Green: S. Atlantic < 15°S
7. PACIFIC DEEP AND BOTTOM WATERS

Remnant NADW
(high salinity)

Antarctic Bottom
Water (lower
salinity)

DPO Fig. 4.12

7. PACIFIC DEEP AND BOTTOM WATERS

Pacific Deep
Water (low
oxygen, old
water)

Antarctic Bottom
Water (high
oxygen)

DPO Fig. 4.12

 7. PACIFIC DEEP
AND BOTTOM
WATERS

Pacific Deep Water (extreme

carbon-14, and no CFCs – very
old water)

DPO Fig. 4.24

 7. DEEP AND BOTTOM WATER
Deep and bottom water
production sites

DPO Fig. 14.14a

Nordic Seas Overflow Water (contributor to North Atlantic Deep Water): high oxygen; deep convection in
the Greenland Sea, overflow
North Atlantic Deep Water: high salinity, high oxygen; mixture of NSOW, LSW and MOW
Antarctic Bottom Water: very cold, high oxygen; brine rejection along coast of Antarctica
Indian and Pacific Deep Waters: low oxygen, high nutrients; slow upwelling and slow deep mixing of
inflowing NADW and AABW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkRQjTdTvFE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCmTY0PKGDs
VENTILATION AGE (YEARS)
BASED ON RADIOCARBON
(BROECKER ET AL., 2004)

Based on difference in radiocarbon age

between surface and deep water. (Taking
into account anthropogenic (bomb)
radiocarbon in the surface waters, the
actual deep Pacific age should be more like
1250 years.)
(Broecker et al., 2004)
VENTILATION AGE (YEARS) BASED ON
RADIOCARBON (BROECKER ET AL.,
2004)

Based on difference in radiocarbon

age between surface and deep
water. (Taking into account
anthropogenic (bomb) radiocarbon
in the surface waters, the actual
deep Pacific age should be more
like 1250 years.)
(Broecker et al., 2004)
GLOBAL DEEP WATER POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE-
SALINITY

4°C

Worthington, 1982

0°C

Pacific Deep North Atlantic Deep

Water Indian Deep Water
Antarctic Bottom
Water
(or Common Water
Water)
DPO 4.17b