Glossary
The English version of our glossary is currently under construction and will be regularly updated.
Upwelling region
Region in which currents of cold and dense seawater rise to the surface along continental coasts, driving warm water away from the coast in the process.
Upwelling regions are among the most fertile on our planet. Most often found on continents’ western coasts, they are created when cold ocean currents flow toward the Equator. When coastal winds drive the warmer, nutrient-rich surface water to the open ocean, the cold, oxygen-rich deep water rises (upwelling). This combination offers the ideal nutritional basis for phytoplankton and microorganisms. In turn, the ample buffet attracts massive schools of fish. Although upwelling regions only account for a small percentage of the ocean, they are the main fishing grounds for the fishing industry. Upwelling regions are also vital to marine life, as the rising deep water contains a range of nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus compounds.
Though smaller upwelling regions can be found around the globe, the largest are on the eastern edges of ocean basins, near the subtropical gyres of the Atlantic and Pacific, and in connection with cold eastern marginal currents:
- The upwelling system of the Canary Current
- The upwelling system of the Benguela Current
- The upwelling system of the California Current
- The upwelling system of the Peru Current