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I'm working on yet another iteration of a world map project.

I'd like to ask for some opinions on the sea temperature map I've done:

sea temperature map

I also have a few specific questions about some areas on the map. labelled map A: Should there be a warm or cold current here? There is no landmass to divert the equatorial currents northwards but it also seems that the westerly winds between 30 and 60 degrees would defy a current flowing south. There's a big hole in my understanding of all this, I have no doubt :P

B: I've mapped this area somewhat like the effect the gulf stream has on western europe, does this fit/make sense?

C: I have a feeling this isolated polar sea should be a fair bit colder... would it be more or less frozen over? how much should it be cooling the ocean beyond its two outlets?

Spilhaus projection Here is an additional Spilhaus projection version of the map, nice visualisation of the ocean as whole.

Thanks in advance and looking forward to discussing with you all in the comments!

Update:

After your responses I revisited the map and reworked it along with ocean currents. Here is the result:

sea temp with currents

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  • $\begingroup$ Is the rotational axis of your world tilted? If so, does the map represent the situation around the equinoxes? Also it seems that you are assuming an atmosphere about as dense as Earth's, is that right? When you say colder do you mean colder than the opposite pole or something else? A temperature scale could add some useful information. $\endgroup$
    – Rafael
    Commented Mar 13, 2019 at 23:05
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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to Worldbuilding.SE! We're glad you could join us! When you have a moment, please click here to learn more about our culture and take our tour. Please note that SE's Q&A model is one-specific-question/one-best-answer. We're lenient with new users and your questions are tightly related, but please keep it in mind for the future. Thanks! $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Mar 13, 2019 at 23:34
  • $\begingroup$ @Rafael Thanks for your reply. This would have been pretty useful information to provide in the first place: this map is an attempt to represent AVERAGE sea temperature. $\endgroup$
    – EojjN
    Commented Mar 14, 2019 at 6:50
  • $\begingroup$ @Rafael Yes the atmosphere should be similar to that of Earth's. When I say colder I mean colder than it currently is because its so cut off from the rest of the oceans. I'll edit in the temperature scale but the darkest blue is 4°C and the darkest red is around 29°C. $\endgroup$
    – EojjN
    Commented Mar 14, 2019 at 6:56
  • $\begingroup$ @JBH thank you for the warm welcome and your understanding on my oversight of the etiquette, my apologies for that one! $\endgroup$
    – EojjN
    Commented Mar 14, 2019 at 6:59

1 Answer 1

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You could build in currents.

ocean currents and temperatures

The path of the ocean currents can be seen on maps of sea surface temperature (SST) such as one below. You should be able to see warm currents flowing away from the equator on on the western side of the ocean basins, and cold water flowing towards the equator on the eastern side.

You can see how north moving currents pushes cold water up along the west coast of South America and Australia, and south moving currents push cold water down the west coast of North America and Africa. Having the presence of the continents interfere with your horizontal rainbow of temperature would be more realistic. The linked source has some good basic stuff about ocean currents and temperature.

That said, nice map you made!

https://seos-project.eu/oceancurrents/oceancurrents-c02-p03.html

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    $\begingroup$ Hi @Willk, thanks for your response. I had actually already prepared some ocean currents but wasn't happy with them and it had got too late last night to redo them. I have now completely redone the currents and sea temp basically, I'll add the updated version to my question if you're interested. Might also post a new question to get some further feedback. $\endgroup$
    – EojjN
    Commented Mar 14, 2019 at 13:29
  • $\begingroup$ New one looks great! Thanks for posting followup. $\endgroup$
    – Willk
    Commented Mar 14, 2019 at 17:16

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