Humboldt Current

It is an eastern boundary current flowing in the direction of the equator, and extends 500-1000 km offshore.

Subtropical eastern boundary currents flow equatorward, transporting cold water from higher latitudes to lower latitudes; examples include the Benguela Current, the Canary Current, the Humboldt Current, and the California Current.

The Humboldt Current, also called the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America.

Other example is Lima, Peru, where the climate is cooler, being sub-tropical, than the tropical latitudes in which the area is located, due to the effect of the Humboldt Current.

The Humboldt has a considerable cooling influence on the climate of Chile, Peru and Ecuador.

Such a diversity is chiefly conditioned by the presence of the Andes mountains and the cold Humboldt Current.

Periodically, the upwelling that drives the system's productivity is disrupted by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event, often with large social and economical impacts.

Normally the northward flowing Humboldt Current brings relatively cold water from the Southern Ocean northwards along South America's west coast to the tropics, where it is enhanced by up-welling taking place along the coast of Peru.

It is also largely responsible for the aridity of Atacama Desert in northern Chile and coastal areas of Peru and also of the aridity of southern Ecuador.

The desert owes its extreme aridity to a constant temperature inversion due to the cool north-flowing Humboldt ocean current, and to the presence of the strong Pacific anticyclone.

The Humboldt has a considerable cooling influence on the climate of Chile, Peru and Ecuador.

On a synoptic scale, the most important factors that control the climate in Chile are the Pacific Anticyclone, the southern circumpolar low pressure area, the cold Humboldt current, the Chilean Coast Range and the Andes Mountains.

The current extends from southern Chile (~45th parallel south) to northern Peru (~4th parallel south) where cold, upwelled, waters intersect warm tropical waters to form the Equatorial Front.

The combination of tropical latitude, mountain ranges, topography variations, and two ocean currents (Humboldt and El Niño) gives Peru a large diversity of climates.

The Humboldt Current is named after the Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt.

The system's high productivity supports other important fishery resources as well as marine mammals (eared seals and cetaceans) and seabirds.

The population of elegant terns, which nest off Baja California, splits after the breeding season with some birds travelling north to the Central Coast of California and some travelling as far south as Peru and Chile to feed in the Humboldt Current.

The species are mostly pelagic: sardines, anchovies and jack mackerel.

The anchoveta population was greatly reduced during the 1972 El Niño event, when warm water drifted over the cold Humboldt Current, as part of a 50-year cycle, lowering the depth of the thermocline.

The Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas), also known as jumbo squid, jumbo flying squid, pota, or diablo rojo (red devil), is a large, predatory squid living in the waters of the Humboldt Current in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Three major stocks of anchoveta are distributed between 4°S and 42°S within the HCS.

After a period of plenty in the late 1960s, the population was greatly reduced by overfishing and the 1972 El Niño event, when warm water drifted over the cold Humboldt Current and lowered the depth of the thermocline.

The Humboldt Current, also called the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America.

It is an eastern boundary current flowing in the direction of the equator, and extends 500-1000 km offshore.

The Humboldt Current is named after the Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt.

In 1846, von Humboldt reported measurements of the cold-water current in his book Cosmos.

The current extends from southern Chile (~45th parallel south) to northern Peru (~4th parallel south) where cold, upwelled, waters intersect warm tropical waters to form the Equatorial Front.

The current extends from southern Chile (~45th parallel south) to northern Peru (~4th parallel south) where cold, upwelled, waters intersect warm tropical waters to form the Equatorial Front.

The current extends from southern Chile (~45th parallel south) to northern Peru (~4th parallel south) where cold, upwelled, waters intersect warm tropical waters to form the Equatorial Front.

Sea surface temperatures off the coast of Peru, around 5th parallel south, reach temperatures as low as 16 C. This is highly uncharacteristic of tropical waters, as most other regions have temperatures measuring above 25 C. Upwelling brings nutrients to the surface, which support phytoplankton and ultimately increase biological productivity.

The Humboldt Current is a highly productive ecosystem.

The species are mostly pelagic: sardines, anchovies and jack mackerel.

The species are mostly pelagic: sardines, anchovies and jack mackerel.