Information on currents in the Cape Peninsula area, South Africa

Abstract

Statistical information and some interpretative detail, based on currents measured at 28 mooring sites between Cape Point and Yzerfontein since 1981, are presented. The most striking feature is the continual presence of wavelike reversals of current close to the coast and in deeper water offshore. These currents have a periodicity of 3–4 days and exhibit a net poleward transport. The energy at these frequencies is greater than that at tidal frequencies and dominates the flow. The observation of equatorward flow over the 230-m contour confirms the presence of a jet there, identified previously by drogue tracks and current profiling studies.