Coordinates: 30°00′S 35°00′E

Agulhas Current
The Agulhas Current /əˈɡʌləs/ is the western
boundary current of the southwest Indian Ocean. It
flows south along the east coast of Africa from 27°S to
40°S. It is narrow, swift and strong. It is suggested that
it is the largest western boundary current in the world
ocean, with an estimated net transport of 70 sverdrups
(70 million cubic metres per second), as western
boundary currents at comparable latitudes transport
less — Brazil Current (16.2 Sv), Gulf Stream (34 Sv),
Kuroshio (42 Sv).[1]

Contents
Physical properties
Agulhas meanders and Natal pulses
Retroflection
Agulhas leakage and rings The courses of the warm Agulhas current (red)
Paleoclimate along the east coast of South Africa, and the cold
Benguela current (blue) along the west coast. The
Rogue waves
Agulhas Current is formed by the confluence of the
Agulhas Undercurrent
warm Mozambique and East Madagascar
Biological properties Currents, which meet south-west of Madagascar
Primary production (not shown in the diagram). The cold Benguela
Impact of rings Current originates from upwelling of water from the
cold depths of the Atlantic Ocean against the west
See also coast of the continent. The two currents do not
References "meet" anywhere along the south coast of Africa.
Notes
Sources

Physical properties
The sources of the Agulhas Current are the East Madagascar Current (25 Sv), the Mozambique Current (5
Sv) and a recirculated part of the south-west Indian subgyre south of Madagascar (35 Sv).[2] The net
transport of the Agulhas Current is estimated as 100 Sv. The flow of the Agulhas Current is directed by the
topography. The current follows the continental shelf from Maputo to the tip of the Agulhas Bank (250 km
south of Cape Agulhas). Here the momentum of the current overcomes the vorticity balance holding the
current to the topography and the current leaves the shelf.[3]
The current reaches its maximum transport
near the Agulhas Bank where it ranges between 95-136 Sv.[4]

The core of the current is defined as where the surface velocities reaches 100 cm/s (39 in/s), which gives
the core an average width of 34 km (21 mi). The mean peak speed is 136 cm/s (54 in/s), but the current can
reach 245 cm/s (96 in/s).[4]
Agulhas meanders and Natal pulses

As the Agulhas Current flows south along the African east coast, it tends to bulge inshore frequently, a
deviation from the current's normal path known as Agulhas Current meanders (ACM). These bulges are
occasionally (1-7 times per year) followed by a much larger offshore bulge, known as Natal pulses (NP).
Natal pulses move along the coast at 20 km (12 mi) per day. An ACM can bulge up to 20 km (12 mi) and a
NP up to 120 km (75 mi) from the current's mean position.[5]
The AC passes 34 km (21 mi) offshore and
an ACM can reach 123  km (76  mi) offshore. When the AC meanders, its width broadens from 88  km
(55 mi) to 125 km (78 mi) and its velocity weakens from 208 cm/s (82 in/s) to 136 cm/s (54 in/s). An ACM
induces a strong inshore counter-current.[6]

Large-scale cyclonic meanders known as Natal pulses are formed as the Agulhas Current reaches the
continental shelf on the South African east-coast (i.e. the eastern Agulhas Bank off Natal). As these pulses
moves along the coast on the Agulhas Bank, they tend to pinch off Agulhas rings from the Agulhas
Current. Such a ring shedding can be triggered by a Natal pulse alone, but sometimes meanders on the
Agulhas Return Current merge to contribute to the shedding of an Agulhas ring.[7]

Retroflection

In the southeast Atlantic Ocean the current retroflects (turns back on itself) in the Agulhas Retroflection due
to shear interactions with the strong Antarctic Circumpolar Current, also known as the "West Wind Drift"
despite referring to the ocean current rather than to the surface winds. This water becomes the Agulhas
Return Current, rejoining the Indian Ocean Gyre. It is estimated that up to 85 Sv (Sv) of the net transport is
returned to the Indian Ocean through the retroflection. The remaining water is transported into the South
Atlantic Gyre in the Agulhas Leakage. Along with direct branch currents, this leakage takes place in
surface water filaments, and Agulhas Eddies.

Agulhas leakage and rings

It is estimated that as much as 15 Sv of Indian Ocean water is

leaked directly into the South Atlantic. 10 Sv of this is relatively
warm, salty thermocline water, with the remaining 5 Sv being cold,
low salinity Antarctic Intermediate Water. Since Indian Ocean
water is significantly warmer (24-26  °C) and saltier than South
Atlantic water, the Agulhas Leakage is a significant source of salt
and heat for the South Atlantic Gyre. This heat flux is believed to
contribute to the high rate of evaporation in the South Atlantic, a Agulhas rings are peeled off the
key mechanism in the Meridional Overturning Circulation. A small Agulhas Current in the Agulhas
amount of the Agulhas Leakage joins the North Brazil Current, Basin where it retroflects back into
carrying Indian Ocean water into the North Atlantic Subtropical the Indian Ocean.
[3]
Gyre. Before reaching the Caribbean Sea, this leakage gets
heated up by the sun around the equator, and, when finally joining
the Gulf Stream, this warm and salty water contributes to the formation of deep water in the North
Atlantic.[8]

Surface water filaments are estimated to account for up to 13% of the total salt transport from the Agulhas
Current into the Benguela Current and South Atlantic Gyre. Due to surface dissipation, these filaments are
not believed to significantly contribute to inter-basin heat flux.[3]
Where the Agulhas turns back on itself the loop of the retroflection pinches off periodically, releasing an
eddy into the South Atlantic Gyre. These "Agulhas Rings" enter the flow of the Benguela Current or are
advected northwestward across the South Atlantic where they join the South Equatorial Current, where
they dissipate into the larger background currents. These anticyclonic warm core rings are estimated to have
a transport of 3-9 Sv each, in total injecting salt at a rate of 2.5 106 kg/s and heat at a rate of 45 TW.[3]

Paleoclimate

Since the Pleistocene, the buoyancy of the South Atlantic thermocline and the strength of the Atlantic
meridional overturning circulation has been regulated by the shedding of warm, saline Agulhas Rings. The
Agulhas leakage affects the Atlantic thermocline on a decadal timescale and over centuries it can change
the buoyancy of the Atlantic thermocline and therefore the formation rates of North Atlantic Deep Water
(NADW).[9]

The provenance of ocean sediments can be determined by analysing terrigenous strontium isotope ratios in
deep ocean cores. Sediments underlying the Agulhas Current and Return Current have significantly higher
ratios than surrounding sediments. Franzese et al. 2009 analysed cores in the South Atlantic deposited
during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 20 000 years ago), and concluded that the Agulhas leakage was
significantly reduced.[10] The trajectory of the current was the same during the LGM and that the reduced
leakage must be explained by a weaker current.[11] Furthermore, it can be predicted that a stronger Agulhas
Current will result in a more eastward retroflection and an increased Agulhas leakage. Simon et al. 2013,
however, noted that changes in temperature and salinity in the Agulhas leakage is at least partly the result of
variability in the composition in the current itself and can be a poor indicator of the strength of the
leakage.[12]

Rogue waves

The south-east coast of South Africa is on the main shipping route between the Middle-East and Europe/the
U.S. and several large ships sustain major damage because of rogue waves in the area where these waves
occasionally can reach a height of more than 30 m (98 ft). Some 30 larger ships were severely damaged or
sunk by rogue waves along the South African east-coast between 1981 and 1991.[13]

Agulhas Undercurrent

Directly under the core of the Agulhas Current, at a depth of 800  m (2,600  ft), there is an Agulhas
Undercurrent which flows equatorward.[14] The undercurrent is 2,000 m (6,600 ft) deep and 40 km (25 mi)
wide and can reach 90  cm/s (35  in/s) at 1,400 metres (4,600  ft), one of greatest speeds observed in any
current at this depth, but it also displays a great variance with a transport of 4.2±5.2 Sv. The undercurrent
can represent as much as 40% of the Indian Ocean overturning transport.[15]

Below 1,800  m (5,900  ft) a separate layer of the undercurrent can be distinguished: the more coherent
North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) which transports an average of 2.3±3.0 Sv.[15] NADW rounds the
southern tip of Africa after which the major part (9 Sv) flow eastward and a smaller part (2 Sv) northward
through the Agulhas Undercurrent and into the Natal Valley (the basin between South Africa and the
Mocambique Plateau); remnants of NADW has been observed in the Mozambique Basin and Channel.
The undercurrent is more leaky than the Agulhas above, resulting in a relatively well-mixed composition of
water masses  — at intermediate depth there is a mixture of Antarctic Intermediate Water and Read Sea
Water.[16]
The periodicity of the meanders and Natal pulses of the Agulhas is matched by the Agulhas
Undercurrent.[15] More research is needed but observations seem to indicate that during a meander event
the Agulhas moves first onshore, then offshore, and finally onshore again, first weakening then
strengthening 10-15 Sv. At the same time the undercurrent is first squeezed offshore and weakened when
the Agulhas moves onshore, then strengthened and forced upward when the Agulhas moves offshore, and
finally returns to normal.[16]

Biological properties

Primary production

The Agulhas acts as an oceanic convergence zone. Due to mass

continuity this drives surface waters down, resulting in the
upwelling of cold, nutrient rich water south of the current.
Additionally, the convergence tends to increase the concentration of
plankton in and around the Agulhas. Both of these factors result in
the area being one of enhanced primary productivity as compared
to the surrounding waters. This is especially notable in the Agulhas
Retroflection waters, where chlorophyll-a concentrations tend to be
significantly higher than the surrounding South Indian Ocean and
South Atlantic Ocean waters.[17]

Impact of rings

Warm core rings are known to have lower primary productivity Mean chlorophyl-a concentration
than surrounding cold waters. Agulhas Rings are no exception, and map of the Agulhas Current for 2009.
have been observed to carry waters with low chlorophyll-a Note the high productivity water in
concentration water into the South Atlantic. The size of the Agulhas Retroflection.
phytoplankton in Agulhas Rings tends to be smaller than in the
surrounding water (around 20 µm in diameter).[17]

Agulhas Rings have also been observed as removing larval and juvenile fish from the continental shelf.
This removal of young fish can result in a reduced anchovy catch in the Benguela system if a ring passes
through the fishery.

See also
Agulhas Passage – Abyssal channel south of South Africa between the Agulhas Bank and
Agulhas Plateau
Sardine run – Annual fish migration off the shores of South Africa
 Oceans portal

References

Notes
1. Bryden, Beal & Duncan 2003, Discussion, p. 491
 2. Stramma & Lutjeharms 1997, Abstract
3. Siedler, Church & Gould 2001, pp. 310–313
4. Baum 2014
5. Jackson et al. 2012
6. Leber & Beal 2012
7. Leeuwen, Ruijter & Lutjeharms 2000, Abstract
8. Schiele 2014
9. Simon et al. 2013, Introduction, pp. 101-103
10. Franzese, A; Hemming, S; Goldstein, S; Anderson, R (2006-10-15). "Reduced Agulhas
Leakage during the Last Glacial Maximum inferred from an integrated provenance and flux
study". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 250 (1–2): 72–88.
Bibcode:2006E&PSL.250...72F (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006E&PSL.250...72F).
doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2006.07.002 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.epsl.2006.07.002).
11. Franzese, Allison M.; Hemming, Sidney R.; Goldstein, Steven L. (2009). "Use of strontium
isotopes in detrital sediments to constrain the glacial position of the Agulhas Retroflection".
Paleoceanography. 24 (2): n/a. Bibcode:2009PalOc..24.2217F (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.ed
u/abs/2009PalOc..24.2217F). doi:10.1029/2008PA001706 (https://doi.org/10.1029%2F2008
PA001706).
12. Simon et al. 2013, Conclusions, p. 110
13. Forsberg & Gerber 2012
14. RSMAS 2005
15. Beal 2009, Abstract, Introduction, pp. 2436-2437
16. Beal 2009, Discussion and summary, pp. 2448-2449
17. Mann & Lazier 2006

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5%2F2009JPO4195.1). Journal of Physical Oceanography. 39 (10): 2436–2450.
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