The Agulhas Bank Circulation

The southern tip of Africa is the gateway between the Indian and Atlantic oceans, one of the most widely recognized chokepoints of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). The oceanic circulation in this region connects a western boundary current, the Agulhas Current, to an eastern boundary current, the Benguela Current, a connection not replicated elsewhere and quite important, not only because of its peculiarity, but also because of its role in the MOC. During the last few decades numerous international research programs have collected large amounts of oceanographic data of this region. All these efforts, however, have been largely focused on the deep-ocean, leaving the coastal region practically unattended. In this presentation we will use the results of a suite of process-oriented numerical experiments to discuss the circulation along the Agulhas Bank (AB)—the shelf region sandwiched between the eastern and western margins of the African continent; in particular to illustrate its connections and interactions with the deep-ocean region. As we shall show these shelf/deep-ocean interactions, are not only important to the shelf but also to the Indian/Atlantic interoceanic exchange.