An intriguing class of ocean-circulation pattern is that exhibiting a retroflection ― one in which a swift current, flowing along the western boundary of a continent, separates from the continental margin and curls back upon itself. Large buoyant pools of water detach from the resulting loop, injecting eddies into a neighbouring ocean province. The ocean's most pronounced retroflections are associated with the Agulhas, Brazil, North Brazil and East Australian currents, and the Gulf of Mexico's Loop Current. The most energetic of these is the Agulhas retroflection, for which the term was designated. This brawniest of retroflections is the subject of a special issue of a journal ― Deep-Sea Research Ⅱ ― in which 12 papers describe both observations and simulations of the retroflection, and the consequential exchange of water between the Indian and Atlantic oceans.
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