OCEAN CURRENTS if.i 



the African coast, on to which it has been blown by the north- 

 east trade winds. 



Cold water is found along the North African roast from 

 Cape Verde to the Straits of Gibraltar, and in summer even 

 farther north. There are periodical variations, the rold-vvater 

 boundary being farther north in summer and farther south in 

 winter. Off the mouth of the Gambia River in February and 

 March, sea temperatures as low as 18-3 C. have been recorded, 

 in contrast to the river-water temperature of 24 C. In the 

 Bay of Arguin in August 17 has been recorded for surface 

 temperatures, which is 5 less than that of the Canary Isles and 

 Madeira. Off Mogador in November i6'i has been observed, 

 contrasted with 20*5 in the open sea 200 miles from land. 



The cold water has a dark grey to bottle-green colour, and, 

 since the atmosphere above is much warmer, is a frequent 

 source of fog. This cool influence is felt along the Portuguese 

 coast as far as 40 N. Lat. 



The north-eastern branch of the Florida Current has no 

 special name, though it is precisely that current which is 

 popularly referred to in the British Isles as the " Gulf 

 Stream." A modern name for it is Atlantic Current. Since 

 it washes the western shores of the British Isles, Kriimmel has 

 called it the Irish Current. This current becomes separated 

 off from the Canaries Current, and forms the northerly branch 

 of the combined Florida and Antilles Currents. The pre- 

 vailing south-westerly Atlantic winds drive the warm-water 

 current to the north-east, into the English Channel, and 

 through the Straits of Dover into the North Sea. Another 

 branch runs around the west of the British Isles and reaches 

 Norway. The main part of the North Atlantic drift or Irish- 

 Current is in the open ocean, where it is met with off the 

 Faroes and on to Iceland. From Iceland it flows on to the west 

 and south-west as the Irminger Current, which, with the cold 

 East Greenland or Arctic Current, runs to Cape Farewell. 

 Ultimately it joins with the Labrador Current, runs south and 

 south-west, completing its cycle off the American coast. There 



ii 



