Humboldt Current

British  

/ ˈhʌmbəʊlt /

noun

1. Also called: Peru Current.  a cold ocean current of the S Pacific, flowing north along the coasts of Chile and Peru

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Humboldt Current Scientific  

/ hŭm′bōlt′ /

1. A cold ocean current of the South Pacific, flowing north along the western coast of South America from Chile to Peru. Extending up to 1,000 km (620 mi) offshore, the Humboldt Current results in significant cooling of the marine environment and influences the weather pattern that makes this section of coast one of the driest regions in the world. The current is also the world's largest upwelling current, bringing cold, nutrient-rich waters to the surface and creating an ecosystem abundant in plankton, fish, and other marine life. It is named after Baron Alexander von Humboldt, who explored this coast in 1802.

2. Also called Peru current

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Example Sentences

Other major upwelling systems include the Humboldt Current off Peru and the Benguela and Canary Currents along the west coast of Africa.

From Science Daily • Nov. 30, 2025

Small forage fish, especially in the Humboldt Current, which is naturally volatile in temperature and strength, have evolved to survive extreme environmental upheavals, but any species has a limit.

From Slate • Feb. 4, 2024

That stream, the Humboldt Current, keeps the islands cool and rainless most of the year, unusual given that the Equator crosses through the archipelago.

From New York Times • Dec. 19, 2018

Wedged between the Andes Mountains and the cold-water Humboldt Current of the Pacific, the coast of Peru is a climatological anomaly that continues to make it an attractive cradle of civilization.

From Golf Digest • May 16, 2018

Walled off from wet air by both the Andes and the Humboldt Current, the Peruvian littoral is astonishingly dry: the average annual precipitation is about two inches.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann