Was flying over the water near the Palm Beach coast yesterday and noticed multiple areas where the water starkly changes from one shade to another accompanied by an obvious ‘ridge’ on the surface, as if two bodies of water were butting up against one another. Was looking into it and learned about haloclines, but these seem to be varying layers of water stacked horizontally, whereas this delineation would be in a vertical line. Is this the same idea or is something else going on? It seems to be where the ‘outgoing’ coastal water meets the ‘incoming’ ocean water, but pretty far (about a mile) out into the water.
In: Other
Probably just the beginning of the continental slope. A quick google search seems to indicate that the continental slope is much closer to shore in the Palm Beach area.
It’s difficult to comment without a photo but you were probably seeing an abrupt change in water depth. It *is* possible for changes in ocean colour to be due to different water masses but this is usually due to river plumes (associated with high turbidity) or plankton blooms. Salinity by itself does not by itself affect the colour of water.
Although this is probably not what you were seeing, it is possible to get something similar to what you’re describing, i.e. an abrupt change in salinity (and/or other ocean properties) in the horizontal. This is known as a [front](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_(oceanography)) – they are sometimes visible but this isn’t directly related to physical properties of the water masses.
Latest Answers