North Pacific Current

The North Pacific Current

The North Pacific Current (sometimes referred to as the North Pacific Drift) is a slow warm water current that flows west-to-east between 40 and 50 degrees north in the Pacific Ocean. The current forms the southern part of the North Pacific Subpolar Gyre.

The North Pacific Current is formed by the collision of the Kuroshio Current, running northward off the coast of Japan, and the Oyashio Current, which is a cold subarctic current that flows south and circulates counterclockwise along the western North Pacific Ocean.

The North Pacific Current forms the northern part of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.

In the eastern North Pacific, it splits into the southward California Current and the northward Alaska Current.

External links

• Quick Bulletin of Ocean Conditions around Japan

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