Humboldt Current and coastal upwelling
Corriente de Humboldt y afloramiento costero
- Date
- 1802 · confidence high
- Place
- Coast of Callao, Peru
- Credited to
- Alexander von Humboldt (temperature measurement); Peruvian fishermen
- People
- 👤 Alexander von Humboldt1769–1859
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Humboldt measured abnormally cold waters off the Peruvian coast; today it is known that the trade winds push surface water away and bring up nutrient-rich deep water, creating the most productive fishery in the world.
Coordinates of Callao, where Humboldt took his measurements. Moche and Lima fishermen had known of the richness of these waters for millennia.
What it led to
- Understanding of Peru's fishing productivity (anchoveta)
- Link between upwelling, El Niño and fishery collapses (1972)
- Biological oceanography
Built on
- Trade winds and their explanation1686
- Humboldt's voyage
Made possible
- Equatorial undercurrent (Cromwell Current)1952
- Fisheries management based on oceanography