To the north of the Kuroshio Current System the sub-arctic water flows towards the east in the form of the Aleutian Current. The transport of water between the Aleutian Islands and 42°N latitude amounts to about 15 million m3/sec.
This water is formed by the mixing of Kuroshio and Oyashio Currents. Temperature of this mixed water mass is low due to cooling, and the lower salinity of the surface water is .caused by excessive precipitation.
One branch of this current flows towards the north and enters into the Bering Sea. At some distance away from the American coast the Aleutian Current bifurcates: one branch enters into the Gulf of Alaska and the other moves towards south along the western coast of the United States of America.
The branch which turns south along the U.S. coast is called the California Current. The main branch entering into the Gulf of Alaska is called the Alaska Current.
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Since these current moves from south to north, its temperature is relatively higher. This warm current exercises its moderating influence on the climate of the adjacent land.
As stated earlier, a branch of the Aleutian Current, flowing along the northern coast of the Aleutian Islands, enters into the Bering Sea. There is an anti-clockwise circulation in that sea.
However, this branch becomes extremely cold in the Bering Sea, and it then turns southward and reaches the northern part of Japan as the cold Oyashio Current.