The Canary Current

1
The Canary Current

• Geoffrey Grek

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Canary Current Stats

• Flows North to South from 30N to 10N and
  offshore to 20W
• Very wide 1000 km
• Cold water due to upwelling along coast
• On average 500 m deep and flows at 10-15 cm/s
• Canary Island Archipelago reaches depth of 3000 m
  and impedes path of current

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The Canary Current

• Eastern Boundary Current
• Part of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre
• Flows southwest along African coast
• Causes upwelling on the African coast

4
The Canary Current

• Eastern Boundary Current
• Part of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre
• Flows southwest along African coast
• Causes upwelling on the African coast

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The Canary Current

• Driven by the trade winds
• Current velocity dependent on trade wind velocity
• Flow obstructed by Archipelago Island
• Always flows towards equator

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Canary Current Eddies

• Form along the coastal boundary
• Length scales of 100 to 300 km
• Kinetic Energy values are less than 100
  cm2 s2

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Canary Current Eddies
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Mass Transport

• Northward mass transport is positive in Figure on
  right
• Mostly southward mass transport
• Northward mass transport is caused by Equatorial
  countercurrent

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Resources

• Joanna Gyory, Arthur J. Mariano, Edward H. Ryan,
  The Canary Current http//oceancurrents.rsmas.mi
  ami.edu/atlantic/canary.html
• Pablo Sangrà, Ananda Pascual, Ángel
  Rodríguez-Santana, Francisco Machín, Evan Mason,
  et. al., 2009 The Canary Eddy Corridor A major
  pathway for long-lived eddies in the subtropical
  North Atlantic, Deep Sea Research Part I
  Oceanographic Research Papers, 56, 2100-14.
• A. Hernández-Guerra, F. Machín, A. Antoranz, J.
  Cisneros-Aguirre, et. Al., 2002 Temporal
  variability of mass transport in the Canary
  Current, Deep Sea Research Part II Topical
  Studies in Oceanography, 49, 3415-26.