

30 



Figure l.-Surface currents in the western North Atlantic 

 and Caribbean during the winter months (from Oceano- 

 graphic Atlas of the North Atlantic Ocean. Section I. Tides 

 and currents. U.S. Nav. Oceanogr. Off. Publ. 700). 



rSQ 75 70 65 



volume to the Gulf Stream at the rate of 7% per 100 

 km of its path leading to total values off Cape 

 Hatteras of about 60x10^ m^/s. Knauss did not 

 speculate on the source of the water added to the 

 Gulf Stream. More recent direct measurements of 

 the transport of the Gulf Stream off Cape 

 Hatteras (Richardson and Knauss 1971) yielded an 

 average value of 63x10^ m^/s vv^hich means that 

 the addition to the Gulf Stream between the 

 Florida Straits and Cape Hatteras, assumedly 

 from the Antilles Current, amounts to about 

 30x 10^ m^/s, approximately doubling its flow. 



Some doubt has been cast on the existence of the 

 hypothesized junction of the Antilles Current with 

 the Gulf Stream and even on the existence of the 

 current itself. A study by Day (1954) of drift bottle 

 data and hydrographic data then available from 

 the region northeast of the Bahama Islands 

 revealed little evidence of a surface current with 

 the characteristics attributed to the Antilles 

 Current. Instead of surface flow to the northwest, 

 he found that ". . . the surface waters in the region 

 tend to move with a pronounced southerly com- 

 ponent of direction rather than to the northwest, 

 and that the Antilles Current appears at depth. 



varies markedly in its transport from one time to 

 another, and should not be considered a per- 

 manent, clearly defined tributary to the Gulf 

 Stream current." A hydrographic section occupied 

 between Bermuda and Elbow Cay in the northern 

 Bahamas in February 1933 showed a north- 

 westward transport of 20.3 x 10^ mVs in a 140- 

 nautical mile band off Elbow Cay (lat. 26° 30'N) 

 which Day identified as the Antilles Current. 



Earlier, Iselin (1936) commented on this same 

 section of stations, pointing out that: 1) the 

 temperature field was nearly horizontal except 

 near the Bahamas (within 40 nautical miles) where 

 it indicated southward flow in the upper 400 m and 

 northward flow beneath that; 2) the temperature 

 observations showed no evidence of a ". . . broad or 

 powerful Antilles Current, readily distinguishable 

 from the general westerly movement continuing 

 from the Northern Equatorial Current . . ."; 3) 

 salinity observations agreed with the thermal 

 trends and afforded little further evidence for the 

 Antilles Current; and 4) at other times of the year, 

 when the trade winds are stronger, the Antilles 

 Current may be better developed. 



Day (1954) also points out that a dynamic 



627 



