The Gulf Stream Justin Shapiro Image Courtesy of Benjamin Franklin. (He had it just about right) es/gulf_stream.gif

Location Western Boundary of the North Atlantic Ocean Sources: Caribbean Sea, Antilles Current Sharp Transition zone between cold, dense water (Laborador) and warm, less dense water.

Transport: Heat Heat: 1.4 petawatts of heat In conjunction with the Hadley Circulation, this heat transport moderates the climate of Europe. Some argue that the atmosphere plays a larger role here: Mid-latitude Cyclones

Transport: Water Volume: Through Florida Straights: 30 Sv Max. Trans. At 55W: 150 Sv Transport Increases due to mass contributions from the Worthington Gyre and the Northern Recirculation Gyre Downstream of Cape Hatteras, Transport Increases by ~8Sv/100km

Topographical Image: oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/img_topo1/gulf-stream2.jpg

Gulf Stream’s Sink Near 38N 44W: Flow Diverges Toward Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Azores Current (cold)(southward) Following north along the continental slope North Atlantic Current (warm)(Eastward)

Time Variant Structure Large Values of Eddy Kinetic Energy at Labrador/Gulf Stream Interface ~22 Warm Core and 35 Cold core rings are shed: features persist from weeks to a year! Wanders much like a wriggling garden hose

Scaling factors Width: km Depth: m Average Speed: 2 m/s

Reference HYCOM Consortium, Live Access Data Server, Joanna Gyory, Arthur J. Mariano, Edward H. Ryan. "The Gulf Stream." Ocean Surface Currents. Lee, Hoyle, “A Gulf Stream Synthetic Geoid for the TOPEX Altimeter,” 1997.