Environmental Thematic Maps and Graphics:
Spring sea surface temperature departures (2005 to 2017) from the climate normal, by depth class, marine ecoregion
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
Text begins
Description for Map
The title of this map is “Spring 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 spring surface temperature change of Canada’s oceans in the spring 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 spring sea surface temperature generally increased for most areas of the East Coast, Western Arctic, Northern Shelf and Offshore Pacific, but decreased in Hudson Bay, Southern Shelf and Strait of Georgia. The Scotian Shelf experienced the greatest increase in temperature and the Strait of Georgia experienced the greatest decrease in temperature.
Notes: The climate normal is the three-decade average of climatological variables from 1981 to 2010. Spring data are from April to June.
Sources:
ni, 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 | -0.44 |
Epipelagic | -0.44 |
Mesopelagic | -0.46 |
Bathypelagic | -0.32 |
Southern Shelf | |
Coastal | -0.10 |
Epipelagic | -0.11 |
Mesopelagic | -0.10 |
Bathypelagic | -0.13 |
Offshore Pacific | |
Coastal | 0.09 |
Epipelagic | 0.09 |
Mesopelagic | 0.08 |
Bathypelagic | 0.03 |
Northern Shelf | |
Coastal | 0.14 |
Epipelagic | 0.21 |
Mesopelagic | 0.14 |
Bathypelagic | -0.02 |
Arctic Basin | |
Coastal | -0.01 |
Epipelagic | 0.09 |
Mesopelagic | 0.09 |
Bathypelagic | 0.05 |
Western Arctic | |
Coastal | 0.08 |
Epipelagic | 0.19 |
Mesopelagic | 0.37 |
Arctic Archipelago | |
Coastal | 0.00 |
Epipelagic | 0.01 |
Mesopelagic | 0.01 |
Eastern Arctic | |
Coastal | 0.03 |
Epipelagic | 0.08 |
Mesopelagic | 0.06 |
Bathypelagic | -0.07 |
Hudson Bay Complex | |
Coastal | -0.08 |
Epipelagic | -0.05 |
Mesopelagic | -0.05 |
Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves | |
Coastal | 0.14 |
Epipelagic | 0.19 |
Mesopelagic | 0.04 |
Bathypelagic | 0.15 |
Abyssalpelagic | 0.24 |
Scotian Shelf | |
Coastal | 0.56 |
Epipelagic | 0.64 |
Mesopelagic | 0.79 |
Bathypelagic | 1.33 |
Abyssalpelagic | 0.90 |
Gulf of St. Lawrence | |
Coastal | -0.14 |
Epipelagic | 0.11 |
Mesopelagic | 0.26 |
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. |
- Date modified: