x The Hydrosphere 185 



Guinea, a small part passes through Torres Strait to the 

 Indian Ocean, but the main body streams through the Malay 

 Archipelago toward the Philippine Islands. Toward this 

 goal the North Equatorial Current is also driven by the 

 north-east trade wind, and as in the Atlantic, the_j>ilmg 

 up of warm surface water against the chain of islands gives 

 rise to a strong Counter Equatorial Current, which sets 

 straight eastward across the Pacific, along the line of 

 equatorial calms, into the Gulf of Panama. The South 

 Equatorial Current streams from the South China Sea into 

 the Indian Ocean in winter, when the north-east monsoon 

 is blowing, and mixes with a cold current flowing south 

 from the Yellow Sea. But in summer, during the south- 

 west monsoon, the pressure of water in the China Sea is 

 increased by tributary currents from the Indian Ocean, and 

 acts in many respects like the Gulf of Mexico. The 

 extremely hot water (surface temperature 85) escapes 

 between Luzon and Formosa as a broad salt river. As it 

 sweeps past the east coast of Japan, and begins to widen 

 and thin out, the name Kuro Siwo or Black Stream is 

 given it, from the deep colour of its clear water. The 

 Kuro Siwo comes into range of the prevalent south-west 

 winds, and, like the Gulf Stream, is carried at a diminishing 

 rate eastward across the ocean, merging into a general 

 surface drift, which washes the coast of Alaska and British 

 Columbia. The North Pacific has its temperature increased 

 throughout a great depth in this way. Cold currents 

 resembling those of Greenland and Labrador, but much 

 smaller in volume, set south from Bering Sea along the 

 coast of Kamchatka and Sakhalin, passing between Japan 

 and the Kuro Siwo like a cold wall. This cold wall is 

 greatly increased by the north-eastern monsoon, and seems 

 to prevent the oceanic part of the north equatorial current 

 from entering the China Sea, by turning it aside to supply 

 the Kuro Siwo, which would otherwise cease to flow at that 

 season. 



248. Currents of the Indian Ocean. The south-east 

 trade wind blows the surface water westward off the coast 

 of Western Australia, causing an upwelling of colder water 



