A thermocline (sometimes metalimnion in lakes) is a thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid (e.g.

The ventilated thermocline
Interocean exchange of thermocline water
Diapycnal mixing in the thermocline: A review
Scaling turbulent dissipation in the thermocline
AMS Journals Online - The Ventilated Thermocline
The Peru upwelling and the ventilation of the south Pacific thermocline
A quasi-synoptic survey of the thermocline circulation and water mass distribution within the Canary Basin
A quasi-synoptic survey of the thermocline circulation and water mass distribution within the Canary Basin
Salinity-driven Thermocline Transients in a Wind- and Thermohaline-forced Isopycnic Coordinate Model of the North Atlantic
Stochastic climate models, Part II Application to sea‐surface temperature anomalies and thermocline variability