RAS question
Which of the following is a cold ocean current?
Correct answer: (C) Labrador Current.
The Labrador Current is a cold ocean current that lowers temperatures near the north-east coast of North America.
Explanation
The Labrador Current is the cold current among the four options. It is a southward-flowing current from the Arctic Ocean along the Labrador coast into the North Atlantic. NCERT supports the classification directly: in its discussion of ocean currents and temperature, it contrasts the warm Gulf Stream with the cold Labrador Current, noting that the Labrador Current lowers the temperature near the north-east coast of North America. This is why Labrador fits the standard cold-current pattern, while the other listed currents are warm currents. Its meeting with the warm Gulf Stream near Newfoundland also explains the familiar geography link to dense fog and the Grand Banks fishing grounds.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Kuroshio Current is wrong because the question asks for a cold current, while Kuroshio is a warm Pacific current.
- (B) Gulf Stream is wrong because NCERT treats it as a warm current, not a cold one, and notes that it raises temperatures near the eastern coast of North America and the west coast of Europe.
- (D) Agulhas Current is wrong because it is a warm current in the Indian Ocean, not a cold current.
Concept
This tests the World Geography concept of ocean currents and their temperature effects. It recurs in RAS because currents link physical geography with climate, fog, coasts and fishing grounds.