4.1 The global surface circulation

Figure 15

This is a world map, centred on the Pacific Ocean, showing ocean surface currents.

The edges of the map are marked to show longitude and latitude with labels along the top and left sides.

The longitude is marked along the top edge, in intervals of 20°, from 40° E through 180°, 160° W and then to 0° and ending with 20° E.

The latitude ranges from approximately 70° N to 70° S and is marked, along the left edge, from 60° S to 60° N in intervals of 20°.

There are horizontal lines across the entire map at latitudes of 0°, approximately 23° N and S, and approximately 66° N and S.

Surface ocean currents are shown by a series of red or blue lines and are labelled.

The following currents are identified in the Pacific Ocean:

Oyashio (blue lines): Flows from the north from the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait into the Bering Sea and then south along the northeast coast of Russia with a slight clockwise motion over the north of Japan.

Alaska current (blue lines): A clockwise current located in the Gulf of Alaska.

California Current (blue line): a straight current flowing south along the northwest coast of the United States.

North Equatorial Current (red lines): a small clockwise current located the mid-Pacific, just above the horizontal line at 23° N.

N. Pacific Current (red lines): A straight current, travelling west to east and flowing out from the Oyashio current into the North Equatorial Current.

Kuroshio (red lines): A clockwise current from 0° to 40° N along the western Pacific, bordered by Papua New Guinea to the south, the Philippines to the west and Japan to the north.

Equatorial Countercurrent (red lines): Large straight current travelling east to west along the Equator.

South Equatorial Current (red lines): A large counter clockwise current dominating the South Pacific and centred off the west coast of South America, from 0° to 55° S.

Peru or Humbolt Current (blue lines): This feeds cold water north from the Antarctic into the western edge of the South Equatorial Current along the west coast of South America.

The following currents are identified in the Indian Ocean:

N. Eq. C (red lines): east to west current along coastal India.

Eq. C. (red lines): tight clockwise currents in the Indian Ocean between 0° and 10° S.

S. Eq. C. (red lines): clockwise current centred off the east coast of Australia and then feeding out to the south of Australia and east into the main South Equatorial Current in the Pacific.

Agulhas Current (red lines): This current comes from the boundary of the S. Eq. C. and Eq. C. and travels southwest along Madagascar and then turns west and east at the south tip of Africa.

The following currents are identified in the Atlantic Ocean:

North Atlantic Drift (blue lines): this current travels south along the east coast of Greenland and then forms into a small clockwise current at the south tip of Greenland.

Labrador Current (blue lines): this current travels south along the west coast of Greenland and joins the North Atlantic Drift at the south tip of Greenland.

N. Eq. C. (red lines): a large clockwise current that is centred off the east coast of the United States. This spans the Atlantic to western Europe and northwestern Africa.

Gulf Stream (red lines): a straight current that travels from the southwest coast of the United States, from the northern edge of the N. Eq. C., northeast across the Atlantic and extends past the UK and along the Scandinavian coast.

Florida Current (red lines): a small current that feeds into the Gulf Stream from the Gulf of Mexico.

Canneries Current (red lines): part of the N. Eq. C that travels south along the west coast of northern Africa.

Guinea Current (red lines): a small system of currents feeding into the Gulf of Guinea off the central West African coast.

S. Eq. C. (red lines): a counter-clockwise current centred in the south Atlantic and spanning the ocean from South America to Africa.

Brazil Current (red lines): the western edge of the S. Eq. C that travels south along the coast of Brazil.

Benguela Current ( blue lines): this current feeds cold water from the Antarctic into the western edge of the S. Eq. C along the southwest coast of Africa.

Falklands Current (blue lines): a current of cold water from the Antarctic that travels north along the southeast coast of South America.

Circumpolar current:

Antarctic Circumpolar Current (West Wind Drift) (blue lines): This current travels around the globe, from west to east along the coast of Antarctic.