Good Hope Jet Explained

The Good Hope Jet is the northward-running shelf edge frontal jet of the Southern Benguela Current off the Cape Peninsula of South Africa's west coast. The jet, an intrusion of water from the Agulhas Current, was first described by South African oceanographers, Nils Bang and W.R.H. (Bill) Andrews^{[1] [2]} in 1974. This warm water jet forms a sharp front as it comes into contact with the colder upwelled water over the shelf^[3] and plays a key role in carrying fish eggs and larvae from their food-poor Agulhas Bank spawning grounds to inshore nurseries.^{[4] [5]}

Notes and References

1. Bang, N. D., and W. R. H. Andrews (1974), Direct current measurements of a shelf-edge frontal jet in the southern Benguela system, Journal of Marine Research, 32, 405 – 417
2. South African Journal of Science (January 1978) Vol 74
3. Gordon, Arnold L., Johann R. E. Lutjeharms and Marten L. Grondlingh (1987) Stratification and Circulation at the Agulhas Retroflection. Deep-Sea Research Vol 34, No 4, pp 570
4. Shannon L.V. and M.J. O’Toole (1999) Synthesis And Assessment of Information on the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME). Thematic Report No 2. Integrated Overview of the Oceanography and Environmental Variability of the Benguela Current Region. Windhoek, Namibia
5. Lutjeharms J.R.E., J.V. Durgadoo and I.J. Ansorge (2007) Surface drift at the western edge of the Agulhas Bank. South African Journal of Science, 103, 63 – 68