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Volta do mar

Volta do mar is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Volta do mar rather than just read about it. In short: Volta do mar, volta do mar largo, or volta do largo (the phrase in Portuguese means literally 'turn of the sea' but also 'return from the sea') is a navigational technique perfected by Portuguese navigators during the Age of Discovery in the late fifteenth century, using the dependable phenomenon of the great permanent wind circle, the North Atlantic Gyre. This was a major step in the history of navigation, when an…

Volta do mar — main illustration
Volta do mar — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Volta do mar belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Volta do mar to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Volta do mar from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Volta do mar, volta do mar largo, or volta do largo (the phrase in Portuguese means literally 'turn of the sea' but also 'return from the sea') is a navigational technique perfected by Portuguese navigators during the Age of Discovery in the late fifteenth century, using the dependable phenomenon of the great permanent wind circle, the North Atlantic Gyre. This was a major step in the history of navigation, when an understanding of winds in the age of sail was crucial to success: the European sea empires would not have been established without an understanding of the trade winds.

History

Portuguese discovery in the Atlantic Ocean The volta do mar was a sailing technique discovered in successfully returning from the Atlantic islands, where the pilot first had to sail far to the west in order to catch usable following winds, and return to Europe. This was a counter-intuitive sailing direction, as it required the pilot to steer in a direction that was perpendicular to the ports of Portugal. Lack of this information may have doomed the 13th-century expedition of Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi, who were headed towards the Canary Islands (as yet unknown by the Europeans) and were lost; once there, without understanding the Atlantic gyre and the volta do mar, they would have been unable to beat upwind to the Strait of Gibraltar and home. Discovering this technique was crucial for returning from future discoveries; for example Christopher Columbus would never have returned from the Americas without applying the volta do mar by sailing northwards from the Caribbean through the Horse Latitudes to catch the prevailing mid-latitude westerlies. A similar phenomenon occurs in the South Atlantic, with the exception that the South Atlantic Gyre circulates counterclockwise. As India-bound Portuguese explorers and traders crossed the equator with the intention of passing the entire western coast of Africa, their voyages took them far to the West (in the vicinity of Brazil.)

Application to the Pacific Ocean – the Manila Galleon

The route of the Manila Galleon from Manila to Acapulco depended upon successful application of the Atlantic phenomenon to the Pacific Ocean: in discovering the North Pacific Gyre, captains of returning galleons had to reach the latitudes of Japan before they could safely cross. The discovery, upon which the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade was based, is owed to the Spanish Andrés de Urdaneta, who, sailing in convoy under Miguel López de Legazpi, discovered the return route in 1565: the fleet split up, some heading south, but Urdaneta reasoned that the trade winds of the Pacific might move in a gyre as the Atlantic winds did. If, in the Atlantic, ships made the Volta do mar to the west to pick up winds that would bring them back from Madeira, then, he reasoned, by sailing far to the north before heading east, he would pick up the westerlies to bring him back to the west coast of North America. Though he sailed to 38 degrees North before turning east, his hunch paid off, and he hit the coast near Santa Catalina Island, California, then followed the coast south to Acapulco. Most of the crew was suffering from scurvy and only 18 remained strong enough to sail the ship.

Notes

References Diffie, Bailey Wallys; Boyd C. Shafer; George Davison Winius (1977). Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415–158. ISBN 0-8166-0782-6. Kelsey, Harry (2016). The First Circumnavigators. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-3002-1778-0. Parry, J.H. (1963). The Age of Reconnaissance.

Portuguese Coutinho, Gago (1951). A náutica dos descobrimentos: os descobrimentos marítimos vistos por um navegador [The Nautical Discoveries: The Maritime Discoveries seen by a Navigator] (in Portuguese). Agência Geral do Ultramar. Marques, Alfredo Pinheiro. Guia de história dos descobrimentos e expansão portuguesa [Historical Guide of Portuguese Discovery and Expansio] (in Portuguese).

Illustrations

Volta do mar: Atlantic winds (green), currents (blue) and approximate Portuguese sailing routes (red) during Henry the Navigator's (c.1430–1460) lifetime. The further south ships went, the wider off sailing required to return
Atlantic winds (green), currents (blue) and approximate Portuguese sailing routes (red) during Henry the Navigator's (c.1430–1460) lifetime. The further south ships went, the wider off sailing required to return
Volta do mar: Map of the five major ocean gyres
Map of the five major ocean gyres
Volta do mar: Route from Philippines to Acapulco, Mexico
Route from Philippines to Acapulco, Mexico
Volta do mar: Portuguese trade routes (blue) and the Spanish trade routes (white). Portuguese ships went almost to Brazil before rounding Africa and to the Azores before turning east to Lisbon. The Spanish Manila galleons used the northern Trade winds going west and the westerlies going east.
Portuguese trade routes (blue) and the Spanish trade routes (white). Portuguese ships went almost to Brazil before rounding Africa and to the Azores before turning east to Lisbon. The Spanish Manila galleons used the northern Trade winds going west and the westerlies going east.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Volta do mar

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Volta do mar claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Volta do mar before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Volta do mar ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Volta do mar

In research
Volta do mar appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Volta do mar in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Volta do mar is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Age of Sail, History of the Atlantic Ocean, History of the Pacific Ocean, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Volta do mar outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Volta do mar in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Volta do mar means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Volta do mar out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Volta do mar in simple terms?

Volta do mar, volta do mar largo, or volta do largo (the phrase in Portuguese means literally 'turn of the sea' but also 'return from the sea') is a navigational technique perfected by Portuguese navigators during the Age of Discovery in the late fifteenth century, using the dependable phenomenon o…

Why does Volta do mar matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Volta do mar?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Volta do mar.

Tags

  • Age of Sail
  • History of the Atlantic Ocean
  • History of the Pacific Ocean
  • Maritime history of Portugal
  • Navigation
  • Portuguese exploration in the Age of Discovery
  • Portuguese language

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