Sea surface temperature the passing of a hurricane primarily as the result of mixed layer deepening and surface heat losses. In the wake of several day long Saharan dust outbreaks across the adjacent northern Atlantic Ocean, sea surface temperatures are reduced 0.2 C to 0.4 C (0.3 to 0.7 F). Other sources of short-term SST fluctuation include extratropical cyclones, rapid influxes of glacial fresh water and concentrated phytoplankton blooms due to seasonal cycles or agricultural run-off. The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) is important for how external forcings are linked with North Atlantic SSTs. El Niño is defined by prolonged differences in Pacific Ocean
Geology of the Pacific Ocean . The Pacific Ocean developed from the Panthalassa, a vast global ocean, following the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea in the Mesozoic Era, gradually forming Gondwana and Laurasia, which in turn divided. There is no firm date for when the changeover occurred, as the replacement of the sea bed is a continuous process, though reconstruction maps often change the name from Panthalassic to Pacific around the time the Atlantic Ocean began to open. The Panthalassic Ocean first opened around 750 million years ago at the breakup of Rodinia, but the oldest Pacific Ocean floor is only around 180 Ma old.