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Peru–Chile Current System

Chapter · December 2009

DOI: 10.1016/B978-012374473-9.00599-3

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 PERU–CHILE CURRENT SYSTEM
J. Karstensen, Universität Kiel (IFM-GEOMAR), Kiel,
Germany
O. Ulloa, Universidad de Concepción,
Concepción, Chile
& 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
the wind stress. As the wind field has a pronounced
seasonal signal it is useful to contrast the situation
for austral summer (January to March) and austral
winter (July to September) (Figure 2). On the large
scale, the wind variability over the PCCS originates

0° S
EUC
Introduction
The Peru–Chile Current System (PCCS) comprises
the surface and subsurface flows in the eastern
boundary current system along the Chilean and
Peruvian coasts (Figure 1). The PCCS hosts four PCoastalC
major currents: two flowing equatorward at the 10°
surface and two flowing poleward, one at the surface
and one at subsurface. For individual currents of
PCCC
the PCCS a variety of names exist: the offshore
equatorward flow has been called Peru Current
(the name that relates the current into a regional
geographical context is indicated in italic for pur-
20°
poses of clarity here), Oceanic Peru Current, Mentor PCC
Current, Humboldt Current (in honor of the German
naturalist Alexander von Humboldt), or Peru-
Humboldt Current. The equatorward flow near the
coast has been called Peru Coastal Current, Chile
Coastal Current, and sometimes the Inshore Peru
Current. The poleward surface flow has been called CCoastalC
the Peru–Chile Countercurrent while the poleward 30°
subsurface flow has been called Peru–Chile Under-
current or Gunther Current (in honor of the British
investigator Eustace Rolfe Gunther).
The PCCS has the largest meridional extent of all SPC
eastern boundary currents stretching from about 51 S
to south of 421 S. The PCCS is similar to the other
eastern boundary current regions in a number of
aspects, for example, wind forcing, strong upwelling, 40° S
and enhanced productivity. The PCCS has a rather
tight connection to the equatorial Pacific and the
globally strongest mode of interannual variability;
the ‘El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO)’ propa-
gates via atmospheric and oceanic pathways into the 85° W 80° 75° 70° W
PCCS and provokes specific physical and ecological
responses. In fact, ENSO has become well known Figure 1 The principal surface flows path in the PCCS and
associated temperature anomaly (red indicates warm current,
due to its severe socioeconomic consequences on the
blue indicates cold): Chile Coastal Current (CCoastalC), Peru
fishery activity off Peru and Chile. Coastal Current (PCoastalC), Peru–Chile Countercurrent
(PCCC), and Peru–Chile Current (PCC). On the large scale,
supplies stem from the South Pacific Current (SPC) and the
The Currents Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC). The circles at about 301 S
symbolize intensive eddy formation. The subsurface poleward
The primary driver of the currents in the PCCS is the Peru–Chile Undercurrent (PCUC) is not drawn but approximately
frictional force of the wind on the ocean’s surface, follows the CCoastalC and PCosatalC.

385
386 PERU–CHILE CURRENT SYSTEM

Austral Summer (Jan.−Mar.)

(a) (b) (c) (d)
0° S 0° S 0° S 0° S

10° 10° 10° 10°

20° 20° 20° 20°

30° 30° 30° 30°

5 m s−1

40° S 40° S 40° S 40° S

85° W 80° 75° 70° W 85° W 80° 75° 70° W 85° W 80° 75° 70° W 85° W 80° 75° 70° W
−1 −3
w (m yr ) SST (°C) Chl a (mg m )

−375 −300 −225 −150 −75 0 75 150 10 15 20 25 0.05 0.1 0.2 0.5 1 2 5 10 25

Austral Winter (Jul.−Sep.)

(e) (f) (g) (h)
0° S 0° S 0° S 0° S

10° 10° 10° 10°

20° 20° 20° 20°

30° 30° 30° 30°

5 m s−

40° S 40° S 40° S 40° S

85° W 80° 75° 70° W 85° W 80° 75° 70° W 85° W 80° 75° 70° W 85° W 80° 75° 70° W
w (m yr−1) SST (°C) Chl a (mg m−3)

−375 −300 −225 −150 −75 0 75 150 10 15 20 25 0.05 0.1 0.2 0.5 1 2 5 10 25

Figure 2 Wind field vectors (QuikSCAT) (a, e), Ekman pumping velocity (QuikSCAT) (b, f; upwelling negative), sea-surface
temperature (AVHRR) (c, g), and surface chlorophyll a concentration (SeaWiFS/MODIS) (d, h) for austral summer (upper) and austral
winter (lower).

from the meridional movement of the eastern Pacific
Subtropical Anticyclone from approx. 321 S in aus-
tral summer to 281 S in austral winter (Figures 2(a)
and 2(e)). In the northern part of the region, off
Peru, the movement of the Intertropical Convergence
Zone (ITCZ) from approx. 51 to 101 N in austral
winter is important. For the southern part of the
region, in particular south of about 301 S, the along-
shore propagation of atmospheric low-pressure sys-
tems is of importance. They originate from the
west wind zone and upon impinging the coast
propagate northward or southward steered by the
Andes mountain range.
Over the PCCS the wind field has its dominant
component parallel to the coast. One of the reasons
for this is the configuration of the continent and the
ocean which maintains through differential heating a
large-scale pressure difference between the South
American continent and the Southeast Pacific Ocean.
The pressure difference leads to equatorward winds
along the South American west coast. In addition,
the Andes Mountain range, which closely follows the
coastline, steers the low-level winds parallel to the
coast. The along-shore equatorward wind stress
generates an offshore Ekman transport and therefore
intensive upwelling occurs along the coast. For the
region off Peru, upwelling is strongest in austral
winter (Figure 2(f)) while for the region between 301
and 401 S, off Chile, almost continuous upwelling is
strongest in austral summer (Figure 2(b)). There is
weaker but almost continuous upwelling for the re-
gion in between. South of about 421 S, winds are
predominately poleward and associated with coastal
downwelling.
The offshore transport of surface water causes a
trough in the sea surface height (SSH) along the coast
(Figure 3, left). Such a trough has dynamical con-
sequences as it causes a zonal (west to east) pressure
gradient force. On a rotating Earth and in cases
where ocean bottom friction can be neglected, the
pressure gradient force is balanced by the Coriolis
force acting perpendicular (in the Southern Hemi-
sphere to the left) to the movement. Oceanographers
(and meteorologists) refer to the equilibrium of
pressure gradient force and Coriolis force as geos-
trophy. To bring the zonal pressure gradient force
along the coast in the PCCS region into a geostrophic
balance an equatorward flow is required. This flow,
which is in the same direction as the wind, is here
associated with the Peru Coastal Current (PCoastC)
and the Chile Coastal Current (CCoastC) (Figure 1).
The coastal currents exist over the shelf area and
reach only to shallow depths (less than 80 m). They
have typical flow speeds of about 0.1 m s 1 in the
northern part of the PCCS, decreasing to 0.02 m s 1
PERU–CHILE CURRENT SYSTEM 387
in the southern part. In austral winter, when atmos-
pheric low-pressure systems impinge on the coast at
about 301 S, episodic flow reversals of the CCoastC
have been observed. The coastal currents are identi-
fied through a minimum in sea surface temperature.
This is because they carry colder water from the
south northward but more important is the entrain-
ment of the cold upwelling waters into the flow.
Further offshore, at the boundary between
the upwelling and downwelling favorable regions
(Figures 2(b) and 2(f)), the Peru–Chile Current (PCC)
is found (Figure 1). This flow is independent of the
coastal current and is sometimes considered to be the
eastern branch of the subtropical gyre circulation of
the South Pacific. Here the contrasting Ekman re-
gimes modify the internal density field such that an
equatorward flow is required. Again the PCC can be
recognized at the surface from lower-than-average
sea surface temperatures associated with the equa-
torward advection of colder waters.
About 100–300 km offshore, and between the
equatorward flowing PCC and the coastal currents
(CCoastalC and PCoastalC) is a poleward flow, the
Peru–Chile Countercurrent (PCCC). The PCCC is
most pronounced off the Peruvian Coast and trans-
ports warm and saline water of equatorial origin
poleward. The driving mechanisms for the PCCC are
not fully understood. It has been suggested that the
flow is driven by Sverdrup dynamics as a result of the
cyclonic wind stress curl. Other mechanisms, such as
eddy/mean flow interaction, buoyancy forcing, or the
multiple pattern of Ekman-driven up- and down
welling, in particular off the Peruvian Coast, may
contribute to the forcing of the current.
Upwelling in the PCCS coastal region brings cold
(Figures 2(c) and 2(g)) and nutrient-rich water from
depths below 150 m to the surface. Local upwelling
rates are higher than 600 m yr 1 (Figures 2(b) and
2(f)), but it is clear that the transport is not only
vertical but also ‘horizontal’ or, better to say, lateral,
along surfaces of constant density, minimizing the
required energy for the flow. The most intense up-
welling in the PCCS occurs along the coast and the
lateral transport at depths has a pronounced com-
ponent toward the coast. This onshore transport
must be in geostrophic balance and hence a north/
south (meridional) pressure gradient along the coast
is required for balancing the transport, with higher
pressure toward the equator. This equilibrium of
onshore transport and meridional pressure gradient
is disturbed at the shelf break, acting as a barrier for
the onshore flow and the flow stops. When the flow
comes to a halt, the pressure gradient force is no
longer balanced by the Coriolis force but drives a
poleward meridional flow near and above the shelf.
388 PERU–CHILE CURRENT SYSTEM

0° S
200 m
500 m

10°

20°

30°

40° S

85° W 80° 75° 70° W 0 100 200

Mean dynamic ocean topography (cm) Shelf width (km)

−20 −15 −10 −5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Figure 3 (Left) Absolute sea surface height (based on joint analysis of drifter data, satellite altimeter data, wind data, and a model
geoid) and (right) width of the shelf with depth less than 200 m (blue) and less than 500 m (black). Black dotted line indicates political
borders.

Now bottom-friction forces balance the pressure
gradient force. This subsurface flow along the shelf
in the PCCS is associated with the Peru–Chile
Undercurrent (PCUC). The PCUC is typically found
between 50- and 4400-m depth, but it may spor-
adically even outcrop at the sea surface. The PCUC
has flow speeds between 0.1 and 0.7 m s 1. It is ul-
timately fed by the Pacific Equatorial Undercurrent
(EUC) and thus transports warm and saline water,
which is low in oxygen and high in nutrients content,
southward. These unique characteristics of the water
in the PCUC allow us to trace the flow to south of
421 S all along the coast.
The divergence of the eastward-flowing South
Pacific Current (SPC), when it approaches the
coast at about 401 S, also drives upwelling that
may reach several hundreds of kilometers off-
shore. This upwelling is weaker than the coastal
one and its location and intensity move southward in
the Southern Hemisphere summer following the
movement and intensification of the South Pacific
Current.
 PERU–CHILE CURRENT SYSTEM 389

The Ecosystem to that found in the so-called high-nutrient low-

chlorophyll (HNLC) regions, such as the equatorial
The rich biological productivity of the PCCS depends eastern Pacific, the North Pacific, and the Southern
primarily on the wind-driven coastal upwelling that Ocean. Thus, variability in the productivity of the
brings colder and nutrient-rich subsurface waters PCCS cannot be due to changes in the intensity of the
into the euphotic zone. The upwelling is, in part, fed upwelling winds alone, but also due to changes in the
by water from the oxygen-minimum zone, located availability of iron.
below the PCCS and the water has particularly high Zooplankton is considered the next trophic level in
nutrient levels due to the remineralization of organic the food chain, going from phytoplankton to fish and
matter. When this nutrient-rich water is upwelled top predators. In the PCCS, zooplankton is usually
into the surface layer it is utilized by phytoplankton dominated by copepods and euphasids, but other
along with dissolved CO2 (carbon dioxide) and light groups, including gelatinous organisms, can become
energy from the Sun. The productivity can be seen important in certain periods of the year. Nearly 60
from the high chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations at species of copepods have been identified in the PCCS.
the surface (Figures 2(d) and 2(h)). The phyto- Some of them are endemic, like the abundant Calanus
plankton is, in turn, available for other components chilensis, which is found to be associated with the
of the marine food web, including zooplankton and areas of intensive upwelling. Within the euphasids,
fish, making the region exceptionally productive. the most abundant one is the endemic species
The high phytoplankton biomass resulting from Euphausia mucronata, which has been shown to
the fertilizing effect of the upwelling is evident in the migrate vertically through the oxygen-minimum
coastal band off Peru and off southern Chile (south of
about 301 S). For both regions, the temporal vari-
ability in near-shore sea surface temperature and Chl 25 Jan. to 01 Feb. 2003
a concentrations are in phase with each other, sug- 24° S
gesting that upwelling-favorable winds are the main
driver for productivity here. However, it is not only
the local upwelling intensity but also the supply of 26°
nutrient-rich waters to the region via the PCUC that
maintains the productivity. The shelf is particularly
wide in these regions (Figure 3, right) and the PCUC
28°
broadens and, in turn, facilitates the entrainment of
the nutrient-rich waters into the euphotic zone over a
wider area. In contrast, upwelling is weaker in the
northern Chile region and there is virtually no shelf 30°
which makes the nutrient supply to the euphotic zone
less effective and the productivity lower.
Offshore Chl a variability is not in phase with 32°
the coastal variability (cf. Figures 2(d) and 2(h)).
The reason for this is not yet clear, but possible
mechanisms include differences in the timing of the
34°
maximum in nutrient supply and the effect of photo-
adaptation to the seasonal changes in the light field.
During the upwelling season, waters over the broad
continental shelves off northern and central Peru as 36°
well as south of 301 S off Chile have extremely high
Chl a concentrations (420 mg m 3), with large dia-
toms dominating the phytoplankton community. In
contrast, over the narrow shelves in southern Peru and 38° S
78° W 76° 74° 72° 70° W
northern Chile, the chlorophyll concentrations are
Chl a (mg m−3)
lower (o2 mg m 3) and smaller phytoplankton spe-
cies, including prymnesiophytes and cyanobacteria,
dominate. Measurements of dissolved iron and ex- 0.05 0.1 0.2 0.5 1 2 5 10 25
periments with iron addition off Peru have shown that Figure 4 Weekly composite of MODIS satellite-derived Chl a
primary productivity in the low-chlorophyll areas of concentrations for the period 25 Jan. to 1 Feb. 2003. White areas
the PCCS are limited by iron. This situation is similar indicate data gaps (e.g., cloud cover).
390 PERU–CHILE CURRENT SYSTEM
zone. Another important one, appearing especially
during El Niño years, is Euphausia eximia.
In order to avoid being permanently advected
offshore and away from the food-rich upwelling re-
gions along the coast, zooplankton often make use of
their vertical migratory capacities to remain at the
coast and ‘travel back’ on shore with the aid of the
onshore subsurface flow. However, this mechanism
does not appear to be widely ‘used’ by zooplankton
species in the PCCS, presumably due to the presence
of the intense and shallow oxygen-minimum zone
that prevents many of them from vertical migration.
Similarly, in other coastal systems, copepods show
seasonal reproductive cycles with a few well-defined
generations per year. In the PCCS, in contrast, they
show continuous reproduction and multiple gener-
ations throughout the year. As there are virtually no
food limitations in the upwelling areas along the
coast, even during El Niño years, the near-coastal
zooplankton growth rates appear to be mainly
0.8
0.7
0.6
Fish production (Chile + Peru)
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1960 1965
Figure 5 Time series of (upper) PDO index based on North Pacific sea surface temperatures and (lower) anchoveta (Peruvian
anchovy; blue) and sardines (red) fish production as given by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
temperature-controlled. Recent evidence suggests
that food quality can also be important for zoo-
plankton reproduction and recruitment.
In the benthic environment of the continental shelf
and upper slope with oxygen-deficient conditions,
extensive mats of the giant, sulfide-oxidizing, nitrate-
reducing bacteria Thioploca spp. can develop. This
contrasts with the low abundance and diversity of
the macrofauna found there. However, the benthic
fauna that inhabits this particular environment, like
certain polychaetes, presents particular adaptations
to cope with the suboxia (dissolved oxygen content
below B10 mmol kg 1) or even anoxia (no oxygen
available), and the building up of toxic hydrogen
sulfide in the sediments.
The Variability
Snapshots of the ocean’s surface property fields
(Figure 4) reveal the existence of swirls and
PDO
0
−1
−2
Anchoveta (2 × 107 t )
Sardines (1 × 107 t )
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Year

filaments, manifested in sharp gradients. They are
associated with the generation and propagation of
mesoscale eddies. Eddies may form from flow in-
stabilities of the coastal currents, from westward
propagating Rossby waves and from other coastal
trapped waves (CTWs) propagating along the coast.
The eddies act as an efficient distributor of nutrients
and biomass from the coast to the open ocean into
the so-called ‘coastal transition zone’. This zone is
particularly large between 251 and 401 S and may
reach as far as 600–800 km off shore.
One important reason for the flow instability is the
intermittent character of the upwelling intensity,
with timescales from 3 to 10 days. This is true for the
whole coast, but in the zone from 251 to 401 S a
strong density gradient is formed between the coast
and the open waters, in particular in summer
through the increase in coastal upwelling. During
intermittent upwelling events, instabilities are gen-
erated which, in turn, release the filaments of cold,
Oceanic waters
Mesoscale
eddies
Eddy
pumping
~50 m
Co
Oxygen-
minimum
zone
~500 m
Figure 6 Schematic of physical processes and peculiarities of the hydrographic stratification in the PCCS. Printed with permission of
Samuel Hormazábal.
PERU–CHILE CURRENT SYSTEM 391
nutrient-rich, and potentially productive waters far
from the coast. After relaxation of the wind, these
filaments are dissipated.
Interannual and decadal variability also plays
an important role in the region. In particular, the
effects of ENSO are evident. This influences the
large-scale atmospheric as well as oceanic circu-
lation. During an ENSO event, the wind field chan-
ges at the equator and warm waters of the western
equatorial Pacific ‘warm pool’ region propagate
to the eastern Pacific by means of a Kelvin wave
and radiates in CTW poleward along the eastern
boundary. As a consequence, the temperature (as
well as the dissolved oxygen contents) of the surface
ocean in the PCCS are significantly higher with a
simultaneous deepening of the main thermocline.
This deepening causes a reduction of the nutrient
supply to the euphotic zone and thus a decrease in
primary productivity, which has a negative impact all
the way through the food chain.
Wi
Coastal waters nd
g
llin
Pol
we
re
Up
ew
ard
flow
392 PERU–CHILE CURRENT SYSTEM
It has been documented that the offshore exten-
sion of the high-productivity band reduces during El
Niño years and a deepening of the oxycline (the
transition between the surface water region with
high oxygen content and the oxygen-minimum zone
below) occurs. Species that are dependent on the
oxygenated conditions of the surface waters then
occupy a broader depth range or concentrate in
deeper depths. Changes in migratory routes and
nursery distributions have also been observed in
some species such as jack mackerel.
The marked differences between the ecological
effects of particularly strong El Niño events, like the
1982–83 versus the 1997–98, suggests that longer
variability (e.g., Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO))
plays an important role in regulating ecological re-
sponses in the PCCS (Figure 5). As a first step, and
associated with the PDO, two environmental stages
have been identified: a warmer stage, termed ‘El
Viejo’, where sardine abundance is promoted and a
colder stage, termed ‘La Vieja’, where anchovy
abundance is promoted.
It is the interaction of different time- and space
scales which makes it difficult to fully understand
the processes that control the physical and eco-
logical functioning of the PCCS, as well as those of
other eastern boundary current systems. A schematic
of important physical processes for the PCCS is
shown in Figure 6. The spectrum of variability is
very wide. It covers spatial variability of a few
kilometers, associated with filaments and mesoscale
eddies, but the variability of basin-scale currents
or large-scale atmospheric circulation is also of
importance. Likewise, a wide range of temporal
scales from the diurnal cycle to decadal times are
important.
See also
Benguela Current. California and Alaska Currents.
Canary and Portugal Currents. Coastal Trapped
View publication stats
Waves. Ekman Transport and Pumping. El Niño
Southern Oscillation (ENSO). El Niño Southern
Oscillation (ENSO) Models. Mesoscale Eddies.
Rossby Waves. Upwelling Ecosystems.
Further Reading
Bakun A and Nelson CS (1991) The seasonal cycle of
wind-stress curl in subtropical eastern boundary current
regions. Journal of Physical Oceanography 21:
1815--1834.
Chavez FP, Ryan J, Lluch-Cota SE, and Niquen M (2003)
From anchovies to sardines and back: Multi-
decadal change in the Pacific Ocean. Science 299:
217--221.
Hutchins DA, Hare CE, Weaver RC, et al. (2002)
Phytoplankton iron limitation in the Humboldt Current
and Peru upwelling. Limnology and Oceanography 47:
997--1011.
Montecino V, Strub PT, Chavez F, Thomas AC, Tarazona J,
and Baumgartner TR (2006) Chapter 10: Bio-physical
interactions off Western South America. In: Robinson
AR and Brink KH (eds.) The Sea, Vol. 14A: The
Global Coastal Ocean – Interdisciplinary Regional
Studies and Syntheses (Part 2. Regional Inter-
disciplinary Oceanography). Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Philander SGH (1990) El Nino, La Nina and the
Southern Oscillation, 289pp. San Diego, CA: Academic
Press.
Strub PT, Mesias JM, Montecino V, Rutllant J, and
Salinas S (1998) Coastal circulation off western
South America. In: Robinson AR and Brink KH (eds.)
The Sea, Vol. 11: The Global Coastal Ocean –
Regional Studies and Syntheses, pp. 273--313.
New York: Wiley.