Benguela Current Article Index for
Benguela
Website Links For
Current
 

Information About

Benguela Current





ITS 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 subantarctic water. The Benguela current is 2-300 km wide and widens further as it flows north. Its western, seaward edge is ill-defined, with many temporary and seasonal eddies.


ITS EFFECT


Where the icy Benguela and the warm, south-flowing Agulhas Current mix, there is 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 . A Benguela El Niño effect has been detected, less intense and less frequent than the Pacific Ocean phenomenon.


EXTERNAL LINK