Mixed layer
![Depth of Mixed Layer versus temperature, along with relationship to different months of the year](/Images/godic/202501/27/MixedLayerTempDepthMonth2451.png")
![Depth of Mixed Layer versus the month of the year, along with relationship to temperature](/Images/godic/202501/27/MixedLayerMonth2451.png")
![Mixed layer depth climatology for boreal winter(upper image) and boreal summer(lower image).](/Images/godic/202501/27/Mixed_layer_depth2451.png")
![An example of barrier layer thickness for an Argo profile taken January 31, 2002 in the tropical Indian Ocean. The red line is the density profile, black line is temperature, and the blue line is salinity. One mixed layer depth, DT-02, is defined as the depth at which the surface temperature cools by 0.2oC (black dashed line). The density defined mixed layer, Dsigma, is 40 m (red dashed line) and is defined as the surface density plus the density difference brought about by the temperature increment of 0.2oC. Above Dsigma the water is both isothermal and isohaline. The difference between DT-02 minus Dsigma is the barrier layer thickness (blue arrows on the figure) .](/Images/godic/202501/27/Example_blt_31Jan2002_Argo22451.png")
The oceanic or limnological mixed layer is a layer in which active turbulence has homogenized some range of depths. The surface mixed layer is a layer where this turbulence is generated by winds, surface heat fluxes, or processes such as evaporation or sea ice formation which result in an increase in salinity. The atmospheric mixed layer is a zone having nearly constant potential temperature and specific humidity with height. The depth of the atmospheric mixed layer is known as the mixing height. Turbulence typically plays a role in the formation of fluid mixed layers.