Given below are two statements : Statement I : The highest temperature on oceanic surface is recorded at equator. Statement II : The maximum temperature of the oceans is recorded on their surface. In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Temperature of ocean water

• The highest temperature of the oceanic surface is not recorded at the equator but a little to the north of it, in the belt of about 5 to 20 degrees north latitude, because of the greater extent of land and the distribution of insolation and currents in the northern hemisphere. The average annual temperature of the northern hemisphere oceans is higher than that of the southern hemisphere. Hence, statement I is false.
• The maximum temperature of the ocean is always at the surface, since the surface directly receives the heat of the sun and transmits it to the lower layers through convection. Hence, statement II is true.
• The temperature falls rapidly in the thermocline, which lies between about 100 and 1000 metres, and below 1000 metres the water remains uniformly cold.