Nearshore circulation in a coastal upwelling site off the Northern Humboldt current system

We report on direct current measurements on a nearshore location, Peninsula Mejillones, within the Humboldt current system (HCS) in the Eastern South Pacific. Currents and hydrography were measured in a 23-station grid on three surveys (October 1998; January and October 1999). We show that the nearshore environment of the HCS is dominated by a poleward flow and a shallow, 0(20 m), Ekman dynamics. Upwelling filaments, characterized by AVHRR images, are advected only O (10 km) offshore. These coastal oceanographic conditions generate a rapid recirculation environment.