Water characteristics of Atlantic Ocean and of world ocean

Abstract

The volume of Atlantic Ocean water in each bivariate class with potential-temperature range of 0·5 C and salinity range of 0·1 per mille has been estimated from 105 uniformly distributed hydrographic stations. The resulting statistics are presented on a pair of characteristic diagrams, each having potential temperature and salinity as co-ordinates, potential specific-volume anomaly being represented by isopleths. Several water types stand out distinctly as separate modes. These statistics are then combined with Cochrane's for the Pacific Ocean and Pollak's for the Indian Ocean to form a pair of diagrams for the world ocean. These diagrams provide the first ocean-wide frequency distributions of water characteristics. It is found that the mean potential temperature is 3·52 C, the mean salinity is 34·72 per mille, and the mean potential specific-volume anomaly is 56 cl/ton ; these values accord with the mean temperature and salinity estimated by Krümmel in 1907.