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How does the Canary Current flow?

How does the Canary Current flow?

It branches south from the North Atlantic Current and flows southwestward along the northwest coast of Africa as far south as Senegal before turning westward to eventually join the Atlantic North Equatorial Current. The cool temperature of the water is produced by upwelling caused by offshore winds from the continent.

Is Canary Current warm or cold?

b) Major currents of the North Atlantic Ocean are: Gulf Stream (warm), North Atlantic Drift (warm) and Canary Current (cold).

Is Canary Current poleward or Equatorward?

Poleward Undercurrent Beneath the near-surface equatorward flow of the Canary Current, a subsurface current flows pole- ward, counter to the general circulation and tightly bound to the continental slope.

What is cold Canary Current?

-The Canary current is a cold current which flows along the western coast of North Africa between Madeira and Cape Verde. -It is a wind-driven surface current that is a portion of the North Atlantic Gyre. -A important characteristic of Eastern Boundary Current is the existence of upwelling.

What is the average temperature of the Canary Current?

Temperatures. Along the coasts, the daily average temperature ranges from 18 °C (64 °F) in January and February to 24 °C (75 °F) in July, August, and September.

Where does the Canary Current start?

The Canary Current starts at approximately 30 degrees N. It flows southwards along North East Africa. This means that it flows from HP to LP, along the Pressure Gradient Force.

Which desert is located near Canary Current?

The Atlantic coastal desert is the westernmost ecoregion in the Sahara Desert of North Africa. It occupies a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast, where the more frequent fog and haze generated offshore by the cool Canary Current provides sufficient moisture to sustain a variety of lichens, succulents, and shrubs.

Does the Canary Current flow clockwise or counterclockwise?

Now, the Canary Current is carrying water with clockwise spin from high latitude toward the equator where the water started, but where the Coriolis Effect is weak.

Where does the Canary Current start and end?

The Canary Current flows along the African coast from north to south between 30°N and 10°N and offshore to 20°W (Fedoseev 1970). Like other eastern boundary currents, it is wide (1000 km) and slow (10-30 cm s -1 ), and it flows year-round towards the equator (Wooster et al. 1976; Batten et al. 2000).

How big is the current in the Canary Islands?

On average, the current is about 500 m deep (Wooster et al. 1976) and flows at a speed of 10-15 cm s -1 (Zhou et al. 2000). The Canary Island Archipelago reaches depths of more than 3000 m and thus forms an obstacle to the flow of the Canary Current (Barton et al. 2000).

How did the Canary Islands block the Canary Current?

The archipelago partially blocks the flow of the Canary Current (Gyory, 2007). This wide and slow moving current is thought to have been exploited in the early Phoenician navigation and settlement along the coast of western Morocco.

Is the Azores Current part of the Canary Current?

A branch of the Azores Current joins the Canary Current along the continental slope between the Madeira Plateau and the Canary Islands (Zhou et al. 2000). Batten et al. (2000), citing Tomczak and Godfrey (1994), state that the Portugal Current, which lies off the Iberian west coast, is actually part of the Canary Current.