Antarctic Convergence - Location

Location

The Antarctic Convergence is a zone approximately 32 to 48 km (20 to 30 mi) wide, varying somewhat in latitude seasonally and in different longitudes, extending across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans between the 48th and 61st parallels of south latitude. Although the northern boundary varies, for the purposes of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources 1980, it is defined as "50°S, 0°; 50°S, 30°E; 45°S, 30°E; 45°S, 80°E; 55°S, 80°E; 55°S, 150°E; 60°S, 150°E; 60°S, 50°W; 50°S, 50°W; 50°S, 0°." Although this zone is a mobile one, it usually does not stray more than half a degree of latitude from its mean position. The precise location at any given place and time is made evident by the sudden drop in sea water temperature from north to south of, on average, 2.8 °C (5.0 °F) from 5.6 °C (42.1 °F) to below 2 °C (36 °F).

The Falkland Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island, Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, Île Amsterdam, Île Saint-Paul, Macquarie Island, Campbell Island group, Auckland Islands, Snares Islands / Tini Heke, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Diego Ramírez Islands, Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados lie north of the Antarctic Convergence. The Kerguelen Islands lie approximately on the Convergence. The South Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Bouvet Island, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Balleny Islands, Scott Island and Peter I Island all lie south of the Convergence.