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What are 'horse latitudes' and 'doldrums'?
What are horse latitudes?
Where are the doldrums located?
Why do sailors call the doldrums 'horse latitudes'?
Mar 17, 2019 · Learn about the global atmospheric circulation and its effects on the regions of the earth, such as the doldrums, the horse latitudes, and the trade winds. Find out the origins and meanings of these names and how they relate to sailing and weather.
- Matt Rosenberg
The dry descending branch is the horse latitudes. The location of the ITCZ gradually varies with the seasons, roughly corresponding with the location of the thermal equator. As the heat capacity of the oceans is greater than air over land, migration is more prominent over land.
Jan 18, 2024 · The horse latitudes are regions at about 30 degrees north and south of the equator, where winds diverge and either flow toward the poles or the equator. The term comes from ships sailing to the New World that would sometimes throw horses overboard due to lack of wind and water.
The rising air mass finally subsides in what is known as the horse latitudes, where the air moves downward toward Earth’s surface. Because the air circulates in an upward direction, there is often little surface wind in the ITCZ.
A diagram showing the relative positions of the horse latitudes. The horse latitudes are the latitudes about 30 degrees north and south of the Equator. They are characterized by sunny skies, calm winds, and very little precipitation. They are also known as subtropical ridges or highs.
Between about 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south of the equator, in a region called the horse latitudes, the Earth's rotation causes air to slant toward the equator in a southwesterly direction in the northern hemisphere and in a northwesterly direction in the southern hemisphere.
The doldrums are also known as the “horse latitudes” because sailors would often throw their horses overboard to conserve water when they were stuck in the area. Table of Contents. Geographical Context. The doldrums are a meteorological phenomenon that occurs in the equatorial region of the Earth.
