RAS question
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (West Wind Drift) is the:
Correct answer: (B) Largest and strongest ocean current in the world.
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current, also called the West Wind Drift, is the world's largest and strongest ocean current, flowing eastward around Antarctica.
Explanation
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the largest and strongest ocean current in the world. Frontiers for Young Minds, The Antarctic Silicon Trap calls the ACC the planet's strongest current, says it flows eastward in the southern hemisphere while circling Antarctica, and notes that it connects the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. That is why the label West Wind Drift fits: the current is not confined to one basin but forms a continuous circumpolar flow around Antarctica. Its transport is about 13 crore cubic metres of water each second, which is why it is treated as more powerful than any other ocean current.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) It is not found only in the Pacific Ocean because it circles Antarctica and connects the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.
- (C) It cannot be the warmest ocean current because it is a cold current around Antarctica.
- (D) It is not the slowest current because it moves an enormous volume of water, about 13 crore cubic metres each second, and is described as the strongest current.
Concept
This tests the physical geography concept of major ocean currents, especially their direction, basin linkages and relative strength. It recurs in RAS because ocean currents connect map-based world geography with climate and Southern Ocean questions.