The Azimuth Project
Thermocline (Rev #2)


The thermocline is the border between the warmer surface water in the ocean and the cold deep water, 100 to 200 meters below the surface. During a La Niña, warm water is blown to the western Pacific, and cold water is pulled up to the surface of the eastern Pacific. So, the thermocline becomes deeper in the west than the east:

When an El Niño occurs, the thermocline flattens out:


The figures above come from a NASA webpage on El Niño.

category: climate