1. An issue or difficulty that appears on the surface or is immediately visible, but may not address the underlying or root cause
The company's declining sales seemed like a surface problem, but the real issue was poor management.
A queda de vendas da empresa parecia um problema superficial, mas o real problema era a má gestão.
2. A problem that is easily identifiable but requires deeper investigation to solve completely
We fixed the surface problem with the website, but we still need to address the deeper technical issues.
Corrigimos o problema superficial do site, mas ainda precisamos resolver os problemas técnicos mais profundos.