thermocline

noun

ther·​mo·​cline ˈthər-mə-ˌklīn How to pronounce thermocline (audio)
: the region in a thermally stratified body of water which separates warmer surface water from cold deep water and in which temperature decreases rapidly with depth

Examples of thermocline in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The best way to target the blues during this time is to fish around the thermocline, either over deep water using floats and planer boards to suspend baits, or by fishing areas where the thermocline meets the bottom, or shallower. The Editors, Outdoor Life, 8 June 2020 Feedback included a desire for more monsters and more illustration of the depths below the thermocline. Patrick Frater, Variety, 4 Aug. 2023 And with a thick layer of warm water moving east — that big blob of a Kelvin wave — the thermocline tends to get pushed downward. Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 7 Mar. 2015 The transition between these two layers — the warm, well mixed surface water, and the cold, more uniform deeper water — is the thermocline. Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 7 Mar. 2015 The ocean has three primary layers -- the surface layer (sometimes referred to as the mixed layer), the thermocline layer and the deep ocean. Allison Chinchar, CNN, 7 May 2022 The best Lake Erie walleye and steelhead trout fishing from Lorain to Conneaut has been in deeper waters, and anglers are targeting fish hanging around the thermocline that separates the warmer and cooler waters in summer. cleveland, 26 Aug. 2021 Reports from successful fishermen pinpoint the thermocline at just 10 feet from the lake bottom in 63- to 68-foot depths. cleveland, 26 Aug. 2021 This concentrates the bait and fish to whatever depth the thermocline forms. The Editors, Outdoor Life, 8 June 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of thermocline was in 1898

Dictionary Entries Near thermocline

Cite this Entry

“Thermocline.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thermocline. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

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