Open AccessInvestigating the Global Impacts of the Agulhas Current
Author(s) -
Zahn Rainer,
Lutjeharms Johann,
Biastoch Arne,
Hall Ian,
Knorr Gregor,
Park Wonsun,
Reason Chris
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2010eo120001
Subject(s) - thermohaline circulation , boundary current , oceanography , current (fluid) , north atlantic deep water , shutdown of thermohaline circulation , ocean current , climatology , geology , gulf stream , circulation (fluid dynamics) , circumpolar star , physics , thermodynamics
The Agulhas Current is the major western boundary current of the Southern Hemisphere [ Lutjeharms , 2006] and a key component of the global ocean “conveyor” circulation controlling the return flow to the Atlantic Ocean [ Gordon , 1986]. As such, it is increasingly recognized as a key player in ocean thermohaline circulation, with importance for the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) of the Atlantic Ocean. Unusual dynamics pervade the motion of this warm‐water current—as it moves west around the southern tip of Africa, it is retroflected back east by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Not all waters are captured by this sudden diversion of course—parts of the Agulhas Current leak away into the South Atlantic Ocean (Figure 1).