Intertropical Convergence Zone it is sometimes referred to as a monsoon trough, a usage more common in Australia and parts of Asia. In the seamen's speech, the zone is referred to as the doldrums because of its erratic (monotonous) weather patterns with stagnant calms and violent thunderstorms. The ITCZ appears as a band of clouds, usually thunderstorms, that encircle the globe near the Equator. In the Northern Hemisphere, the trade winds move in a southwestward direction from the northeast, while in the Southern Hemisphere, they move northwestward from the southeast. When the ITCZ is positioned north or south of the Equator, these directions
Monsoon of South Asia orbit, its rotation, and its axial tilt cause these belts to shift gradually north and south, following the Sun's seasonal shifts. The "dynamic theory" explains the monsoon on the basis of the annual shifts in the position of global belts of pressure and winds. According to this theory, the monsoon is a result of the shift of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) under the influence of the vertical sun. Though the mean position of the ITCZ is taken as the equator, it shifts north and south with the migration of the vertical sun toward the Tropics of Cancer and