Tropical marine climate

A tropical marine climate is a tropical climate that is primarily influenced by the ocean. It is usually experienced by islands and coastal areas 10° to 20° north and south of the equator. There are two main seasons in a tropical marine climate: the wet season and the dry season. The annual rainfall is 1000 to over 1500 mm (39 to 59 inches). The temperature ranges from 20 °C to 35 °C (68 ° to 95 °F). The trade winds blow all year round and are moist, as they pass over warm seas. These climatic conditions are found, for example, across the Caribbean, the eastern coasts of Brazil, Madagascar and Queensland; and many islands in tropical waters. During the dry season there is less rainfall than in the wet season, but there is little variation in temperature between the two seasons. Tropical marine regions are influenced by anticyclones during the dry season and tropical waves during the wet season. The ecosystems of the tropical marine climate have to adapt to the dry season. Plants during the dry season must conserve water/moisture. However the extent of the adaptation depends much on the annual rainfall. Hygrophytic ecosystems occur when there is a short dry period with a few rain showers. The soil in this ecosystem holds adequate water for plant growth. Most of the tropical marine ecosystems are close to true rain forests. The mesophytic ecosystem is also known as a semi-evergreen forest. It is found where there is a long dry season that has little rainfall. There is less vegetation than in a rainforest. There are only two tree stories; trees shed their leaves or have very small leaves. This provides the plants a way to conserve moisture. There are fewer epiphytes than a rain forest has as the canopy is dry. In the dry season the ground is covered by leaves that will not decay until the soil is moist. The trees often flower during the dry season and start to grow during the wet season. The soil is usually latasol. The xerophytic ecosystem is also known as dry woodland. It is found in areas of rain shadow in the tropical marine climate.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related concepts (3)

Caribbean

The Caribbean (ˌkærᵻˈbiːən,_kəˈrɪbiən , ˈkærɪbiæn ; el Caribe; les Caraïbes; de Caraïben) is a subregion of the Americas that includes the Caribbean Sea and its islands, some of which are surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some of which border both the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean; the nearby coastal areas on the mainland are often also included in the region. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, and north of South America.

Tropical marine climate

Köppen climate classification

The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notably in 1918 and 1936. Later, German climatologist Rudolf Geiger (1894–1981) introduced some changes to the classification system, which is thus sometimes called the Köppen–Geiger climate classification.