California Current Ecosystem - United States of America

The CCE-LTER site is a coastal upwelling ecosystem. The study region encompasses the southern sector of the California Current System, extending from San Diego northward beyond Monterey Bay and from the shoreline to ~ 500 km offshore. The California Current (CC) proper forms the eastern limb of the large, clockwise circulation of the subtropical gyre of the North Pacific Ocean. As part of the water from the Westwind Drift turns southward and becomes the California Current, it carries cool, fresh water from the Subarctic Pacific. The California Current System off central and southern California includes the broad, eddy-rich southward flowing California Current; a persistent but variable subsurface California Undercurrent centered ...