1. Benjamin Franklin. (He had it just about right)
The Gulf Stream
Image Courtesy of
Benjamin Franklin. (He had it just about right)

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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

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

8. 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)

9. 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

10. Scaling factors Width: 80-150 km Depth: 800-1200 m
Average Speed: 2 m/s

11. 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,”