RAS question
The Canary Current is a cold current flowing along the coast of which region?
Correct answer: (B) Northwest Africa.
The Canary Current is a cold ocean current that flows along the northwest coast of Africa.
Explanation
The Canary Current is correctly linked with Northwest Africa because Britannica describes it as branching south from the North Atlantic Current and flowing southwestward along the northwest coast of Africa as far south as Senegal before turning westward. It is a cold, wind-driven current along the coasts of Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal, and it forms the eastern boundary of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre. Its cool character is not incidental: Britannica attributes the cool water to upwelling caused by offshore winds from the continent. That is why, in a region-based MCQ, the key identifier is the northwest African coast rather than Europe, Australia or South America.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Western Europe is associated here with the warm North Atlantic Drift, not with the cold Canary Current along northwest Africa.
- (C) Eastern Australia is served by the East Australian Current, so it does not match the northwest African course of the Canary Current.
- (D) Eastern South America is associated with the warm Brazil Current, not the cold Canary Current of the North Atlantic's eastern side.
Concept
This tests the World Geography concept of major ocean currents and their coastal locations. RAS repeats such questions because currents link physical geography with climate patterns, aridity and regional identification on maps.