A chemocline is a type of cline, a layer of fluid with different properties, characterized by a strong, vertical chemistry gradient within a body of water. In bodies of water where chemoclines occur, the cline separates the upper and lower layers, resulting in different properties for those layers.[1] The lower layer shows a change in the concentration of dissolved gases and solids compared to the upper layer.[2]
Chemoclines most commonly occur where local conditions favor the formation of anoxic bottom water — deep water deficient in oxygen, where only anaerobic forms of life can exist. Common anaerobic organisms that live in these conditions include phototrophic purple sulfur bacteria and green sulfur bacteria.[3] The Black Sea is an example of a body of water with a prominent chemocline, though similar bodies (classified as meromictic lakes) exist across the globe.[4][5] Meromictic lakes are the result of meromixis, which is a circumstance where a body of water does not fully mix and circulate, causing stratification.[1][6]
In any body of water in which oxygen-rich surface waters are well-mixed (holomictic), no chemocline will exist, as there is no stratification of layers.[7] Chemoclines can become unstable when dissolved gases become supersaturated, such as H2S, due to mixing associated with bubbling or boiling (ebullition).[8]