We study the formation of the vertical distribution of temperature in the upper layer of the oceans (0-300 m) at low latitudes (10°N-10°S) by using the nonlinear dependence of the vertical heat flow on the vertical temperature gradient with regard for the influence of the bulk absorption of solar radiation and heat sink on the temperature of water. The thermocline is formed under the condition that the modulus of temperature gradient attains values for which their subsequent increase leads either to insignificant variations of the heat flow or even to its decrease. We consider the possibility of solution of inverse problems for the evaluation of the heat-exchange coefficient and the parameter of the heat sink. For the Equatorial Atlantic considered as an example, we compare the theoretical results with the data of instrumental measurements.Marine Hydrophysical Institute, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Sevastopol.

551.465On the basis of generalization of the data of many-year hydrological observations and the data of meteorological satellites accumulated in recent years, we characterize some specific features of the surface temperature in the Tropical Atlantic. The influence of solar radiation, local heat balance, and the advective and diffusion heat transfer on the temperature of the water surface is analyzed. The mechanism of formation of the thermohalocline and local sites of elevated temperature near the estuaries of large rivers (such as the Amazon, Orinoco, Mississippi, Congo, and Niger) is described. We also characterize the formation of the seasonal variability of the nearequatorial temperature maximum, equatorial temperature minimum, and equatorial divergence rate.