Environmental Thematic Maps and Graphics:
Fall sea surface temperature departures (2005 to 2017) from the climate normal, by depth class, marine ecoregion
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Description for Map
The title of this map is “Fall sea surface temperature departures (2005 to 2017) from the climate normal, by depth class, marine ecoregion.” This map provides a visual representation of the average fall surface temperature change of Canada’s oceans in the fall season.
On the page, there are three maps and two legends to the upper left and right. The first map (top) displays all of Canada, the second map (left) displays the West Coast and the third map (right) displays the East Coast. On the maps there are small numbers corresponding to marine ecoregions.
The maps show the change in sea surface temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) by marine ecoregion in different shades of blue, yellow, orange and red. The first legend (left) lists the map labels and corresponding marine ecoregions. The second legend (right) contains nine temperature categories in degrees Celsius (°C): <-0.5 (navy blue), -0.5 to -0.25 (dark blue), -0.25 to -0.1 (light blue), -0.1 to 0 (aqua), 0 to 0.1 (pale yellow), 0.1 to 0.25 (yellow), 0.25 to 0.5 (pale orange), 0.5 to 1 (orange), ≥1 (red). The legend contains three boundary categories: fine dashed lines indicate provincial boundaries, fine black lines indicate marine ecoregion boundaries and fine grey lines indicate marine depth classes.
The maps show that compared to the 1981 to 2010 climate normal, the 2005 to 2017 average fall sea surface temperature generally increased in marine ecoregions on the East Coast and northern Arctic, as well as the Offshore Pacific, but decreased in Hudson Bay, Strait of Georgia and most of the Northern Shelf and Southern Shelf. The Scotian Shelf experienced the greatest increase in temperature and the Hudson Bay Complex experienced the greatest decrease in temperature.
Notes: The climate normal is the three-decade average of climatological variables from 1981 to 2010. Fall data are from October to December.
Sources:
Locarnini, R. A., et al., 2018. World Ocean Atlas 2018: Volume 1: Temperature, A. Mishonov (Technical Ed.), NOAA Atlas NESDIS 81, 52 pp., https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/SELECT/woaselect/woaselect.html (accessed November 15, 2019).
| Label | Marine ecoregion |
|---|---|
| 1 | Strait of Georgia |
| 2 | Southern Shelf |
| 3 | Offshore Pacific |
| 4 | Northern Shelf |
| 5 | Arctic Basin |
| 6 | Western Arctic |
| 7 | Arctic Archipelago |
| 8 | Eastern Arctic |
| 9 | Hudson Bay Complex |
| 10 | Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves |
| 11 | Scotian Shelf |
| 12 | Gulf of St. Lawrence |
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Temperature change (°C) | Colour |
| ≥ 1 | Red |
| 0.5 to < 1 | Orange |
| 0.25 to < 0.5 | Pale orange |
| 0.1 to < 0.25 | Yellow |
| 0 to < 0.1 | Pale yellow |
| -0.1 to < 0 | Aqua |
| -0.25 to < -0.1 | Light blue |
| -0.5 to < -0.25 | Dark blue |
| < -0.5 | Navy blue |
| Boundaries | Shape |
| Province/territory | Dashed line |
| Marine ecoregion | Black outline |
| Depth class | Grey outline |
| Marine ecoregion and depth class | Temperature departure |
|---|---|
| °C | |
| Strait of Georgia | |
| Coastal | -0.09 |
| Epipelagic | -0.10 |
| Mesopelagic | -0.11 |
| Bathypelagic | -0.10 |
| Southern Shelf | |
| Coastal | 0.00 |
| Epipelagic | -0.07 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.08 |
| Bathypelagic | 0.15 |
| Offshore Pacific | |
| Coastal | 0.03 |
| Epipelagic | 0.03 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.05 |
| Bathypelagic | 0.14 |
| Northern Shelf | |
| Coastal | 0.00 |
| Epipelagic | -0.01 |
| Mesopelagic | -0.01 |
| Bathypelagic | 0.11 |
| Arctic Basin | |
| Coastal | 0.00 |
| Epipelagic | 0.04 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.01 |
| Bathypelagic | 0.05 |
| Western Arctic | |
| Coastal | 0.01 |
| Epipelagic | 0.02 |
| Mesopelagic | -0.01 |
| Arctic Archipelago | |
| Coastal | 0.01 |
| Epipelagic | 0.02 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.00 |
| Eastern Arctic | |
| Coastal | 0.00 |
| Epipelagic | 0.02 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.04 |
| Bathypelagic | 0.02 |
| Hudson Bay Complex | |
| Coastal | -0.01 |
| Epipelagic | -0.13 |
| Mesopelagic | -0.31 |
| Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves | |
| Coastal | 0.50 |
| Epipelagic | 0.40 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.37 |
| Bathypelagic | 0.46 |
| Abyssalpelagic | 1.34 |
| Scotian Shelf | |
| Coastal | 1.02 |
| Epipelagic | 1.17 |
| Mesopelagic | 1.22 |
| Bathypelagic | 1.53 |
| Abyssalpelagic | 0.72 |
| Gulf of St. Lawrence | |
| Coastal | 0.77 |
| Epipelagic | 0.36 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.13 |
| Note: Areas classed as coastal have a maximum depth of 50 m, the epipelagic class has depths from 50 m to 200 m, the mesopelagic class has depths from 200 m to 1,000 m, the bathypelagic class has depths of 1 km to 4 km and the abyssalpelagic class includes all areas with depths of more than 4 km. | |
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