The South Atlantic Gyre is the subtropical gyre in the south

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. In the southern portion of the gyre, northwesterly (or southeastward-flowing) winds drive eastward-flowing currents that are difficult to distinguish from the northern boundary of the

Antarctic Circumpolar Current The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is an ocean current that flows clockwise (as seen from the South Pole) from west to east around Antarctica. An alternative name for the ACC is the West Wind Drift. The ACC is the dominant circulation feat ...

. Like other oceanic gyres, it collects vast amounts of floating debris as a

garbage patch A garbage patch is a gyre of marine debris particles caused by the effects of ocean currents and increasing plastic pollution by human populations. These human-caused collections of plastic and other debris, cause ecosystem and environmental probl ...

Southern boundary

South of this gyre is the

. This current flows from West to East around

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. Another name for this current is the West Wind Drift. This current allows Antarctica to maintain its huge ice sheet by keeping warm ocean waters away. At approximately 125 Sv, this current is the largest ocean current.

Western boundary

The

Brazil Current The Brazil Current is a warm water current that flows south along the Brazilian south coast to the mouth of the Río de la Plata. Description This current is caused by diversion of a portion of the Atlantic South Equatorial Current from wher ...

is the

western boundary current Boundary currents are ocean currents with dynamics determined by the presence of a coastline, and fall into two distinct categories: western boundary currents and eastern boundary currents. Eastern boundary currents Eastern boundary currents are ...

of the gyre. It flows south along the Brazilian coast to the

Rio de la Plata Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

. The current is considerably weaker than its North Atlantic counterpart, the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the Unit ...

References

External links

Ocean currents (''rsmas.miami.edu'')

{{Ocean Currents of the Atlantic Ocean Oceanic gyres

Southern boundary

Western boundary

See also

References

External links