Agulhas Current
western boundary current of the southwest Indian Ocean that flows down the east coast of Africa
The Agulhas Current () is the western boundary current of the southwest Indian Ocean. It flows south along the east coast of Africa from 27°S to 40°S. It is narrow, swift and strong. It is suggested that it is the largest western boundary current in the world ocean, with an estimated net transport of 70 sverdrups (70 million cubic metres per second), as western boundary currents at comparable latitudes transport less—the Brazil Current 16.2 Sv, the Gulf Stream 34 Sv, and the Kuroshio 42 Sv.
Physical properties
The sources of the Agulhas Current are the East Madagascar Current (25 Sv), the Mozambique Current (5 Sv) and a recirculated part of the south-west Indian subgyre south of Madagascar (35 Sv). The net transport of the Agulhas Current is estimated as 100 Sv. The flow of the Agulhas Current is directed by the topography. The current follows the continental shelf from Maputo to the tip of the Agulhas Bank (250 km south of Cape Agulhas). Here the momentum of the current overcomes the vorticity balance holding the current to the topography and the current leaves the shelf.
The current reaches its maximum transport near the Agulhas Bank where it ranges between 95 and 136 Sv.
The core of the current is defined as where the surface velocities reach 100 cm/s (39 in/s), which gives the core an average width of 34 km (21 mi).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Agulhas Current” as western boundary current of the southwest Indian Ocean that flows down the east coast of Africa. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as western boundary current of the southwest Indian Ocean that flows down the east coast of Africa. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q398548. Authority coordinates are -30.000, 35.000. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Agulhas Current” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.