Everything about Benguela Current totally explained
The frigid waters of the north-flowing
Benguela current move from the western coast of
South Africa,
Namibia and
Angola towards north and northwest up to the line where it joins the southern equatorial current which is already a warm current. Its waters are cold because there are very deep waters that were brought upward due to the rotation of Earth from west to east. This upward movement of deep waters are sometimes increased by planetary winds from east to west (southern
Trade winds) which blow west from the Kalahari Desert towards the ocean. Obviously, this wind creates a displacement of top ocean waters from the African coast to the west deviating to the northwest (to the left) because of the Coriolis Effect and this displacement causes deep waters to move upwards to replace coastal waters moving west.
Boundaries
The Benguela current forms the eastern boundary of the
South Atlantic subtropical gyre. Its sources include Indian and South Atlantic subtropical thermocline water; saline, low-oxygen tropical Atlantic water; and cooler, fresher deep water. The Benguela current is 2-300 km wide and widens further as it flows north and northwest. Its western, seaward edge is ill-defined, with many temporary and seasonal eddies.
Effect
Where the icy Benguela and the warm, south-flowing
Agulhas current mix, there's a richly productive marine ecosystem off the
Cape of Good Hope but storms and turbulence above.
The cold current creates the desert conditions of the shore of
Namibia, and the persistent
fogs of the
Skeleton Coast and
Namib Desert. A Benguela
El Niño effect has been detected, less intense and less frequent than the
Pacific Ocean phenomenon.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Benguela Current'.
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