The South Atlantic Current is an eastward
ocean current
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of sea water generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contours ...
, fed by the
Brazil Current. That fraction of it which reaches the
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n coast feeds the
Benguela Current. It is continuous with the northern edge of the
Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
The seafaring is usually easier and thus safer in area of the South Atlantic Current than in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, though also slower. It is a cold current.
See also
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Antarctic Circumpolar Current
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Ocean current
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of sea water generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contours ...
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Oceanic gyres
In oceanography, a gyre () is any large system of circulating ocean currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect; planetary vorticity, horizontal friction and vertical friction determine ...
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Physical oceanography
References
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Currents of the Atlantic Ocean
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