The Ocean Currents


 

1. Gulf Stream
Waters from the tropics follow this trunk route north and then east into the North Atlantic.
11. East Greenland
Cold Arctic waters make their way southward into the Atlantic.
2. North Atlantic Drift
The northern extension of the Gulf Stream warms the coasts of Iceland, Norway, and Spitsbergen.
12. Oyashio
The Pacific twin of the East Greenland Current is heavy with the cold waters moving south from the Bearing Sea.
3. Irminger Current
The northernmost arm of the Gulf Stream brings warmish waters to meet the cold of the Arctic Ocean.
13. California Current
A wide, cold and sluggish current follows the west coast of the U.S. as far as Baja California.
4. Kuroshio
"The black current," Pacific's equivalent of the Atlantic's Gulf Stream, brings dark tropical waters up past Japan.
14. Labrador Current
Cold waters and iceburgs are brought down from Baffin Bay and meet the warm Gulf Stream off Newfoundland, producing the fogs of the Grand Banks.
5. Somali Current
In June and August, during the Southwest Monsoon, the Somali current flows north, but during the winter it reverses dirction.
15.  Benguela Current
The Benguela current drives water northward and westward into midocean. This produces a strong upwelling of water and nutrients from the ocean bed, supporting enormous numbers of fish.
6. Agulhas Current
The strongest north-south current in the southern hemisphere stays close to the coast of southern Africa.
 
 

7. South Equatorial Current
The westward current is diverted northward by the corner of Brazil, feeding the sources of the Gulf Stream.
16. Humboldt Current
A cold current brings nutrients to the sea surface, which teems with life. Every ten years or so, complex weather conditions strengthen the warm, eastward-flowing Equatorial Countercurrent. The Humboldt Current is disrupted. The nutrients no longer rise from the ocean depths, and fish starve. Peruvian fisherman have called this disasterous phenomenom El Nino ("the child") because of it's occurence around Christmas.
8. North Pacific Current
The Pacific equivalent of the North Atlantic Drift brings the warm waters of the Kuroshio to the coast of Africa.
17. Antarctic Circumpolar Current
The greatest current of all is driven by the Westerlies. It circles the Antarctic continent, traveling at about half a mile an hour around the Southern Ocean.
9. Equatorial Countercurrent
The Trade Winds build up water on the western side of the oceans; the Equatorial Counter-current flows eastward, restoring the balance.
10. Guinea Current
The extension of the Atlantic Equatorial Countercurrent was used by Portuguese explorers sailing down the coast of Africa.