Antarctic Circumpolar Current

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is the strongest ocean current on Earth, flowing eastward around Antarctica in a continuous loop unimpeded by continental landmasses. It transports approximately 130–150 million cubic meters of water per second — more than a hundred times the combined flow of all the world's rivers — and forms the dominant oceanic circulation of the Southern Hemisphere. The ACC is not merely a conveyor of water. It is the oceanic gatekeeper of global climate, isolating Antarctica thermally from the rest of the planet, ventilating the deep ocean through upwelling, and regulating the global carbon cycle by connecting surface waters to the abyssal depths.

Dynamics and Structure

The ACC is driven by the strongest and most persistent westerly winds on Earth, the Roaring