THERMAL VARIATIONS IN THE LAGUNA VERDE BAY (33° 06'S; 71° 45'W)

Abstract

Temperature records were taken in Laguna Verde Bay with a drag thermograph and a bathythermograph from 1979 to 1981. The data inelude three stations sampled twice, four hours aparts, and a grid of iwelve stations sampled every eight hours on August 14 and 15,h 1981. In general, the winter is characterized by a negligible temperature vertical gradient, being these gradients increased during late spring and fall when they reach to a máximum. During summer, even though the solar radiation is greater, the incoming coid water from the Curaumilla upwelling cerner prevented the development of a seasonal ihermocline. On May 1981. after ten days of predominantly northerly winds, a deepening of the thermocline and increase of the width of the mixed layer was observed. The superficial changes are caused by the solar radiation and incoming waters while the intermedíate changes detected on August 1981 seem to be due to an internal wave. These changes show the need of sampling programs in bays where instability and non-stationary are common.