SOUTHERN LIMITS OF THE PERU COASTAL CURRENT 



STATION NUMBER5_WS726 WS7g5 



UTITUDE— ' 7°5 



WS724 



100- 



? 200- 



■^OO- 



OFF PUNTA AGUJA 

 ?04 MILES 



OFF CAPO BLANCO 

 no MILES 



OFF SANTA ELENA 

 54 MILES 



Fig. 69. Distribution of temperature (° C). Section of the current as it leaves the Peruvian coast on its way to the Gala- 

 pagos Islands, August 1-4. The position of this section is shown in Fig. 2; the corresponding salinity section, in Fig. 49. 



plants indigenous to regions north of the Rio Bio-Bio have been washed up at Corral, 

 and that this has been accepted as evidence of a southerly flowing current. 



Reference to the seasonal data given in Table IX (p. 172) shows that during winter 

 the surface temperatures on the west coast had experienced a decline everywhere except 

 in the latitudes 34-39° S, but that here from May to September the temperature had 

 risen. As this is within the monsoon area, we may infer this rise to have followed an 

 alteration in the direction of surface drift. No widespread northerly drift on this coast 

 has been found unattended by upwelling and the May temperatures may still have borne 

 the impress of the cooling effects of the southerly winds of summer : but with the arrival, 

 during the winter months, of the monsoon from the north, the surface drift probably 

 became southerly and upwelling automatically came to a stop ; the surface temperature 

 rose, and this has shown itself in spite of the advance of winter. 



According to these observations, the southern limit of the northerly current varies 

 with season, and with it the upwelling characteristic of the Peru Coastal Current. 

 According to Table IX, the surface temperature south of 40° S shows no seasonal 

 anomaly, and this water may be regarded as belonging to the Cape Horn Current. The 

 extreme southern limit of the Peru Coastal Current may therefore be placed at 40-41 ° S, 

 which falls within a degree of Mossman's meteorological division. 



16 



