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Agulhas Current
 
 
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The Agulhas
Agulhas

Agulhas is a coastal village in the Western Cape province of South Africa, and the southernmost settlement on the mainland of Africa. It is situated at Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa....
 Current is the Western Boundary Current of the South-West Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
 and is part of the westward flowing South Equatorial Current
South Equatorial Current

The South Equatorial Current is a significant Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean current that flows east-to-west between the equator and about 20th parallel south....
. It flows down the east coast of Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 from 27°S to 40°S. It is narrow, swift and strong.

The sources of the Agulhas Current are the East Madagascar Current
East Madagascar Current

The East Madagascar Current is an Ocean current feature near Madagascar.It flows southward from 20S on the east side of Madagascar to the southern limit at Cape Saint Marie and subsequently feeds the Agulhas Current....
, the Mozambique Current
Mozambique Current

The Mozambique Current is an ocean current in the Indian Ocean, usually defined as warm surface waters flowing south between the African east coast in the vicinity of Mozambique and the island of Madagascar....
 and a reticulated part of the Agulhas Current itself. The flow of the Agulhas Current is directed by the topography
Topography

Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, Natural satellite, and asteroids. It is also the description of such surface shapes and features ....
. The current follows the continental shelf
Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
 from Maputo
Maputo

Maputo, formerly Louren?o Marques, is the Capital and largest city of Mozambique. A port on the Indian Ocean, its economy is centered around the harbour....
 to the tip of the Agulhas Bank
Agulhas Bank

The Agulhas Bank is a broad, shallow part of the continental shelf which extends south of Cape Agulhas before falling away steeply away to the abyssal plain....
 (Cape Agulhas).






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Encyclopedia


The Agulhas
Agulhas

Agulhas is a coastal village in the Western Cape province of South Africa, and the southernmost settlement on the mainland of Africa. It is situated at Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa....
 Current is the Western Boundary Current of the South-West Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
 and is part of the westward flowing South Equatorial Current
South Equatorial Current

The South Equatorial Current is a significant Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean current that flows east-to-west between the equator and about 20th parallel south....
. It flows down the east coast of Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 from 27°S to 40°S. It is narrow, swift and strong.

The sources of the Agulhas Current are the East Madagascar Current
East Madagascar Current

The East Madagascar Current is an Ocean current feature near Madagascar.It flows southward from 20S on the east side of Madagascar to the southern limit at Cape Saint Marie and subsequently feeds the Agulhas Current....
, the Mozambique Current
Mozambique Current

The Mozambique Current is an ocean current in the Indian Ocean, usually defined as warm surface waters flowing south between the African east coast in the vicinity of Mozambique and the island of Madagascar....
 and a reticulated part of the Agulhas Current itself. The flow of the Agulhas Current is directed by the topography
Topography

Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, Natural satellite, and asteroids. It is also the description of such surface shapes and features ....
. The current follows the continental shelf
Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
 from Maputo
Maputo

Maputo, formerly Louren?o Marques, is the Capital and largest city of Mozambique. A port on the Indian Ocean, its economy is centered around the harbour....
 to the tip of the Agulhas Bank
Agulhas Bank

The Agulhas Bank is a broad, shallow part of the continental shelf which extends south of Cape Agulhas before falling away steeply away to the abyssal plain....
 (Cape Agulhas). Here the momentum of the current overcomes the vorticity
Vorticity

Vorticity is a mathematical concept used in fluid dynamics. It can be related to the amount of "Circulation " or "rotation" in a fluid.The average vorticity in a small region of fluid flow is equal to the Circulation around the boundary of the small region, divided by the area A of the small region....
 balance holding the current to the topography and the current leaves the shelf. In the South-East Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
 the current retroflects (turns back on itself) in the Agulhas Retroflection, becoming the Agulhas Return Current. This returns to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
 and contributes the major part of the volume of the Agulhas Current by recirculation.

Where the Agulhas turns back on itself the loop of the retroflection pinches off periodically, on average about once every two months, releasing a retroflection eddy
Eddy (fluid dynamics)

In fluid dynamics, an eddy is the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle. The moving fluid creates a space devoid of downstream-flowing fluid on the downstream side of the object....
 into the South Atlantic Ocean. This retroflection eddy or Agulhas ring enters the flow of the Benguela Current
Benguela Current

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....
 and is translated north-westward across the Atlantic Ocean.

See also

  • Agulhas Bank
    Agulhas Bank

    The Agulhas Bank is a broad, shallow part of the continental shelf which extends south of Cape Agulhas before falling away steeply away to the abyssal plain....
  • Sardine run
    Sardine run

    The Sardine Run occurs between May and July when millions of sardines - or more specifically the Southern African pilchard Sardinops sagax - spawn in the cool waters of the Agulhas Bank and move northward along the east coast of South Africa....
  • Rogue wave (oceanography)


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