What are the eastern boundary currents?

The names given to the eastern boundary currents in these geographic areas are the California Current off North America, the Peru or Humboldt Current off South America, the Canary Current off northern Africa, and the Benguela Current off southern Africa.

What are eastern and western boundary currents?

They fall into two categories: 1) western boundary currents, which are narrow, deep-reaching, and fast-flowing currents, not unlike jet streams, associated with current instability and eddy shedding; and 2) eastern boundary currents, which are shallow, cover a wider region, are of moderate strength, and are often ...

What are the 5 western boundary currents?

There are five major ocean-wide gyres—the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian Ocean gyres. Each is flanked by a strong and narrow “western boundary current,” and a weak and broad “eastern boundary current” (Ross, 1995).

What is the name of the eastern boundary current in the S Pacific gyre?

It also contains westward flow on the equator and as far north as 3 to 5 N. The subtropical gyre shrinks poleward and westward with depth as in other oceans. The eastern boundary current is the Peru Current.

How are eastern boundary currents different from western boundary currents quizlet?

What differs between western boundary currents and eastern boundary currents? Western boundary currents tend to be hot, fast, and deep. Eastern boundary currents are cold, slow, and shallow.

What is the Atlantic current called?

North Atlantic Current, also called North Atlantic Drift, part of a clockwise-setting ocean-current system in the North Atlantic Ocean, extending from southeast of the Grand Bank, off Newfoundland, Canada, to the Norwegian Sea, off northwestern Europe.

Is the Labrador Current a western boundary current?

The major western boundary currents are (1) the Gulf Stream, which is the north-western part of the clockwise flowing subtropical gyre located between 101N and 501N (roughly); (2) the North Brazil Current, the western portion of the equatorial gyre located between the equator and 51N; (3) the Labrador Current, the ...

Why are western and eastern boundary currents different?

In both hemispheres, currents on the western side of the gyres travel through a much narrower area than the currents on the eastern side (yellow rectangles). To move the same volume of water through each side, western boundary currents are faster, deeper, and narrower than eastern boundary currents.

Is the Brazil Current a western boundary current?

The Brazil current is the western boundary current of the South Atlantic subtropical gyre. It transports warm water polewards. Near 22 S, the Brazil current splits; one component flows eastward and the other component hugs the coast and flows toward the southwest and interacts with the colder Malvinas Current.

Where are western boundary currents?

Western boundary currents (WBCs) are swift, narrow oceanic currents found in all major oceanic gyres. Within the Pacific Ocean, the subtropical gyre WBCs are the Kuroshio Current in the Northern Hemisphere, and the East Australian Current (EAC) in the Southern Hemisphere (Fig. 1a).

Is the Canary Current a western boundary current?

The Canary Current is a wind-driven surface current that is part of the North Atlantic Gyre. This eastern boundary current branches south from the North Atlantic Current and flows southwest about as far as Senegal where it turns west and later joins the Atlantic North Equatorial Current.

What is the Gulf Stream current?

The Gulf Stream is a strong ocean current that brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean. It extends all the way up the eastern coast of the United States and Canada. The Gulf Stream is a strong ocean current that brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean.

Is the East Australian Current warm or cold?

The East Australian Current (EAC) is a warm, southward, western boundary current that is formed from the South Equatorial Current (SEC) crossing the Coral Sea and reaching the eastern coast of Australia. At around 15° S near the Australian coast the SEC divides forming the southward flow of the EAC.

Is Peru current A cold current?

As it is a cold current, except at times of the phenomenon known as El Niño (q.v.), the Peru Current brings fog to the nearby coast but also helps to keep the coast one of the most intensely arid areas in the world.

How wide are eastern boundary currents?

The eastern boundary currents are shallow, meandering currents. The actual eastern boundary currents such as the California Current are narrow (< 100 km width), meandering and have speeds of 40 to 80 cm/sec. They are located at the upwelling front created by the offshore Ekman transport.

What will happen when the Gulf Stream and Labrador Current meet?

The Labrador Current and Gulf Stream usually meet right around the Cape Hatteras area. The clash between the cold and warm waters creates very rough waters. Many boat/ship wrecks happen where the two currents meet. This is one reason that area is known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic”.

Why are Labradors cold now?

In spring and early summer, the Labrador Current transports icebergs from the glaciers of Greenland southwards into the trans-Atlantic shipping lanes. The waters of the current have a cooling effect on the Canadian Atlantic provinces, and on the United States' upper northeast coast from Maine south to Massachusetts.

Where does Labrador Current originate from?

Originating at the Davis Strait, the Labrador Current is a combination of the West Greenland Current, the Baffin Island Current, and inflow from Hudson Bay. The current is cold and has a low salinity; it maintains temperatures of less than 32° F (0° C) and salinities in the range of 30 to 34 parts per 1,000.

Where is the North Equatorial Current located?

The North Equatorial Current (NEC) is a westward wind-driven current mostly located near the equator, but the location varies from different oceans. The NEC in the Pacific and the Atlantic is about 5°-20°N, while the NEC in the Indian Ocean is very close to the equator.

Is there a such thing as Eastern Australian Current?

The East Australia Current is the largest ocean current close to Australia, moving as much as 30 million cubic meters of water per second in a broad ribbon that covers as much as 100 kilometers in width and 500 meters in depth.

Do turtles really ride the EAC?

New research has revealed that the EAC plays a critical role in transporting turtles between habitats across the southern Pacific Ocean.

Is the Eastern Australian current real?

The East Australian Current, or EAC, is a very real thing, according to The Conversation. The current on the east side of the Australian coast that flows in a southward direction from the Great Barrier Reef. EAC transports more than 40 million cubic meters of water each second.

What type of current is the California Current?

The California Current is a cold water Pacific Ocean current that moves southward along the western coast of North America, beginning off southern British Columbia and ending off southern Baja California Sur.

Which direction is the Brazil Current flowing?

Brazil Current, branch of the Atlantic South Equatorial Current, flowing southward in the South Atlantic Ocean along the eastern coast of South America from Cape St. Roque, Brazil, to about latitude 30°–40° S, where the northward-flowing Falkland Current deflects it to the east.

What is the fastest ocean current?

The Gulf Stream is the fastest ocean current in the world with peak velocities near 2m/s.