West Wind Drift
Also called: Antarctic Circumpolar Current · Topic: Movements of Ocean Water: Waves, Tides and Currents · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 13 "Movements of Ocean Water"
Meaning
The West Wind Drift, also called the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, is a cold current that flows east all the way round Antarctica. Strong westerly winds drive it: the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties and Shrieking Sixties, named after the latitudes where they blow. No land blocks its path, so it never stops. It is the largest ocean current by volume, and it links the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It also helps keep Antarctica cold.
Example
The West Wind Drift squeezes through the Drake Passage, the narrow sea between the southern tip of South America and Antarctica. Its branches turn north as cold currents: the Humboldt (off Chile and Peru), the Falkland (off Argentina), the Benguela (off south-west Africa) and the West Australian.
Don't confuse with
- North Atlantic Drift: it is a warm current in the Northern Hemisphere that carries the Gulf Stream towards north-west Europe. The West Wind Drift is cold and circles Antarctica.