Labrador Current

American  

noun

1. a cold ocean current flowing south along the Labrador coast through Davis Strait to the Grand Banks where it divides, the eastern branch joining the North Atlantic Current and the western branch flowing into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

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Labrador Current British  

noun

1. a cold ocean current flowing southwards off the coast of Labrador and meeting the warm Gulf Stream, causing dense fogs off the coast of Newfoundland

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Labrador Current Scientific  

/ lăb′rə-dôr′ /

1. A cold ocean current flowing southward from Baffin Bay along the coast of Labrador and turning east after intersecting with the Gulf Stream. The fog characteristic of Labrador is created when warm Gulf Stream air meets the cold waters of the Labrador Current. The Labrador Current also brings down icebergs from the Arctic into transatlantic shipping lanes.

2. Also called Arctic Stream

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Example Sentences

Because climate change transforms the ocean currents like the Labrador Current, the warm Gulf Stream is expanding and prompting many North Atlantic fish species to leave their traditional habitats.

From Salon • Jan. 26, 2024

The iceberg that sank the Titanic in April 1912 probably first floated on the Labrador Current along these shores, known as “Iceberg Alley.”

From Washington Post • Aug. 26, 2022

The area lies in the path of the Labrador Current, a conveyor belt for icebergs calved off Greenland’s glaciers.

From Economist • Jun. 22, 2017

Bumped and nudged by one another and by melting pack ice, the bergs eventually get caught up in the southbound Labrador Current and sail down Iceberg Alley.

From New York Times • Apr. 20, 2017

Atlantic white-sided dolphins are distributed, primarily offshore, in the cool waters between the Gulf Stream and the Labrador Current.

From Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic A Guide to Their Identification by Caldwell, David