and especially pronounced in the latitudes of Peru and northern Chile. Its origins
are at the latitudes of southern Chile (43°S) proceeding into tropical waters where
it turns westward at about 5°S to feed the South Equatorial Current. The current
can be as much as 1,000 km wide and a couple of hundred meters deep flowing
at an average rate of about .4 km/hr. Compared to the remainder of the Pacific
Ocean at the latitudes of Peru, the Peru Current represents a swath of water cooler
by 8°C. This pronounced coolness stems not only from the arrival of water from
the higher latitudes but from coastal and continental shelf configurations encour-
aging upwelling of deep, cold waters. The coolness helps to stabilize the lower
atmosphere and is a partial cause of the extreme aridity of the Atacama Desert in
the narrow coastal strip west of the Andes Mountains. More importantly, the
upwelling waters transport nutrients and life upward making them available to
an unusually diverse chain of life near the surface. The result is that the Peru Cur-
rent is associated with about one-fifth of the fish tonnage caught in the world’s
Ocean Currents 245The Thermohaline Circulation, also called the Global Conveyor Belt, is a global current that
transfers energy and material between the world’s major oceans. (ABC-CLIO)