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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2025-6573</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Review: The Greater Agulhas Current System &amp;ndash; Circulation, Variability, Long-term Trends and Impacts on Weather, Climate and Ecosystems</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Halo</surname>
<given-names>Issufo</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Lamont</surname>
<given-names>Tarron</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8464-891X</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Hart-Davis</surname>
<given-names>Michael</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9342-0335</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Penven</surname>
<given-names>Pierrick</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Ansorge</surname>
<given-names>Isabelle</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Reason</surname>
<given-names>Chris</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Backeberg</surname>
<given-names>Bjorn</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff7">
<sup>7</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff16">
<sup>16</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Rühs</surname>
<given-names>Siren</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5001-4994</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff9">
<sup>9</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff10">
<sup>10</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>van Sebille</surname>
<given-names>Erik</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2041-0704</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff11">
<sup>11</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Whittle</surname>
<given-names>Christo</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff12">
<sup>12</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Samuelsen</surname>
<given-names>Annette</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9736-6484</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff7">
<sup>7</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Johannessen</surname>
<given-names>Johnny</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff7">
<sup>7</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff8">
<sup>8</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Morris</surname>
<given-names>Tamaryn</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7198-2249</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff13">
<sup>13</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Krug</surname>
<given-names>Marjolaine</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Hermes</surname>
<given-names>Juliet</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff13">
<sup>13</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Ostrowski</surname>
<given-names>Marek</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8583-9996</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff15">
<sup>15</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Taukoor</surname>
<given-names>Sheveenah</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Abiodun</surname>
<given-names>Babatunde</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3878-0116</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff14">
<sup>14</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Oceans &amp; Coasts, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Cape Town, South Africa</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Nansen-Tutu Center for Marine Environmental Research, Oceanography Department, University of Cape Town,  Cape Town, South Africa</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Bayworld Centre for Research and Education, Cape Town, South Africa</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Laboratoire d’Oceanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), University of Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, IUEM,  Plouzane, France</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>Department of Oceanography, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff6">
<label>6</label>
<addr-line>Deutsches Geodätisches Forschungsinstitut, Technische Universität München, Bayern, Germany</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff7">
<label>7</label>
<addr-line>Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Bergen, Norway</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff8">
<label>8</label>
<addr-line>Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff9">
<label>9</label>
<addr-line>GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff10">
<label>10</label>
<addr-line>Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff11">
<label>11</label>
<addr-line>Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff12">
<label>12</label>
<addr-line>Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Natural Resources and the Environment, Cape Town,  South Africa</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff13">
<label>13</label>
<addr-line>South African Environmental Observation Network, Egagasini Node, Cape Town, South Africa</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff14">
<label>14</label>
<addr-line>Climate System Analysis Group, Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape  Town, Cape Town, South Africa</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff15">
<label>15</label>
<addr-line>Institute for Marine Research, Bergen, Norway</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff16">
<label>16</label>
<addr-line>Deltares, Delft, The Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>05</day>
<month>02</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>53</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Issufo Halo et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2025-6573/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2025-6573/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2025-6573/egusphere-2025-6573.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2025-6573/egusphere-2025-6573.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>The Greater Agulhas Current System (GACS) is a dynamically complex western boundary current system that plays a central role in inter-ocean exchange between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, regional weather and climate over southern Africa, and marine ecosystem variability along the southeast African margin. Since the publication of The Agulhas Current Book nearly two decades ago, major advances in ocean observing systems, satellite remote sensing, numerical modelling, and interdisciplinary research have substantially expanded understanding of the system. Here we provide an integrated review of progress over the period 2006&amp;ndash;2025, synthesising recent advances across all components of the GACS, from its upstream source regions to its downstream outflows and global climate connections. We first summarise key technological and methodological developments that have transformed observation and simulation of the Agulhas system, including sustained moored arrays, autonomous platforms, multi-sensor satellite products, and high-resolution numerical models capable of resolving mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics. We then reassess the state of knowledge for each sub-region of the system: the East Madagascar Current, the Mozambique Channel, the Northern and Southern Agulhas Current, the Agulhas Retroflection and leakage, and the Agulhas Return Current, highlighting how recent studies have addressed uncertainties in circulation pathways, variability, and connectivity. Knowledge developments include improved quantification of transport variability and eddy dynamics in upstream source regions, new observational evidence for eddy dissipation and momentum transfer within the Agulhas Current, refined understanding of the processes governing retroflection and leakage, and growing insight into the role of mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics in air&amp;ndash;sea interaction, biogeochemical fluxes, and ecosystem responses. We also review emerging evidence linking Agulhas system variability to Southern Hemisphere wind forcing and to downstream impacts on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. We conclude by identifying remaining knowledge gaps and outlining priority directions for future research, emphasising the importance of sustained observations, improved representation of fine-scale processes in models, and stronger integration across physical, biogeochemical, and ecosystem perspectives.</p>
</abstract>
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