HYDROGRAPHY OF THE MARINE WATERS 



15 



Stream System. The existence of a warm-phase, nation-wide and perhaps 

 even world-wide in effect, has been established by Kincer (1946). Any cor- 

 relation with the Gulf Stream System is, however, without foundation for the 

 following reasons: 



1 . The warmer climate is not restricted to regions near the stream. 



2. The weather and thus the climate of temperate regions comes chiefly 

 from the west. 



3. There are no data from which the history of the stream and its flow can 

 be described accurately. Those who have probed into the pronounced short- 

 term changes in course and volume, Iselin (1940), Hachey (1939), and 

 Church (1932), have not found evidence of a change in course to fit such 

 speculation. 



Off the North Carolina coast, where the Florida Current is bounded by 

 the continental shelf, the short-term shifting is slight (Church, 1932). 

 Perhaps this is due to a stabilizing influence of the shelf and such an influence 

 would also tend to minimize in this region any long-term changes that might 

 occur. 



Shoreward from the Gulf Stream System the North Carolina coastal waters 

 have a varied circulation which has not been studied to any extent. Factors 

 that contribute to this circulation include tides, v/inds, Corioli's force, the 

 discharge from inlets, and the indirect effects of the Gulf Stream System. 



The tidal influence, shown in Figure 4, is greater to the southwest than 

 immediately off Hatteras. In open waters there are rotary tides, whereas in 

 the inlets the tide is stronger with distinct ebb, flood, and slack conditions 

 (Tables). 



TABLE 5 

 Tidal Currents in North Carolina Inlets * 



* From U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Current Tables, Atlantic Coast North America for 

 the Year 1947. 



t The average interval between the time of the moon's meridian passage and the time of the 

 following strength of flood. At these stations the time for maximum ebb strength is approxi- 

 mately 6 hours greater or less. 



