﻿THE 
  GULF 
  STREAM 
  AND 
  ITS 
  PROBLEMS 
  

  

  By 
  H. 
  A. 
  Marmer 
  

  

  U. 
  S. 
  Coast 
  and 
  Geodetic 
  Survey 
  

  

  Maury's 
  The 
  Physical 
  Geography 
  of 
  the 
  Sea, 
  which 
  appeared 
  in 
  

   1855, 
  is 
  frequently 
  referred 
  to 
  as 
  the 
  first 
  textbook 
  of 
  modern 
  oceanog- 
  

   raphy. 
  In 
  that 
  work 
  the 
  author 
  devotes 
  the 
  first 
  chapter 
  to 
  the 
  

   Gulf 
  Stream, 
  introducing 
  it 
  thus: 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  a 
  river 
  in 
  the 
  ocean. 
  In 
  the 
  severest 
  droughts 
  it 
  never 
  fails, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  

   mightiest 
  floods 
  it 
  never 
  overflows. 
  Its 
  banks 
  and 
  its 
  bottom 
  are 
  of 
  cold 
  water, 
  

   while 
  its 
  current 
  is 
  of 
  warm. 
  The 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico 
  is 
  its 
  fountain, 
  and 
  its 
  mouth 
  is 
  

   in 
  the 
  Arctic 
  Seas. 
  It 
  is 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream. 
  There 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  world 
  no 
  other 
  such 
  

   majestic 
  flow 
  of 
  waters. 
  Its 
  current 
  is 
  more 
  rapid 
  than 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  or 
  the 
  

   Amazon.2 
  

  

  Even 
  in 
  matters 
  scientific, 
  customs 
  change. 
  It 
  is 
  altogether 
  un- 
  

   likely 
  that 
  an 
  oceanographer 
  nowadays 
  would 
  speak 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  

   Stream 
  as 
  rhetorically 
  as 
  did 
  Maury. 
  The 
  magnitude 
  of 
  this 
  current, 
  

   however, 
  is 
  such 
  that 
  even 
  later 
  students 
  make 
  use 
  of 
  superlatives 
  in 
  

   describing 
  it. 
  The 
  most 
  comprehensive 
  investigation 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  

   Stream 
  was 
  carried 
  out 
  between 
  the 
  years 
  1885 
  and 
  1889 
  by 
  Lieut, 
  

   (later 
  Rear 
  Admiral) 
  J. 
  E. 
  Pillsbury, 
  United 
  States 
  Navy, 
  while 
  at- 
  

   tached 
  to 
  the 
  Coast 
  and 
  Geodetic 
  Survey. 
  And 
  v/hen 
  he 
  came 
  to 
  write 
  

   up 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  his 
  observations 
  and 
  studies 
  he 
  described 
  it 
  as 
  ''the 
  

   grandest 
  and 
  most 
  mighty 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  terrestrial 
  phenomenon."^ 
  

  

  Of 
  all 
  the 
  currents 
  that 
  make 
  up 
  the 
  systems 
  of 
  oceanic 
  circulation, 
  

   the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  has 
  received 
  the 
  greatest 
  amount 
  of 
  study 
  and 
  is 
  the 
  

   best 
  Imown. 
  Its 
  discovery, 
  or 
  more 
  accurately 
  the 
  first 
  notice 
  on 
  rec- 
  

   ord, 
  came 
  shortly 
  after 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  the 
  new 
  world. 
  Early 
  in 
  

   March 
  of 
  1513, 
  Ponce 
  de 
  Leon 
  set 
  sail 
  from 
  Porto 
  Rico 
  with 
  three 
  

   ships 
  on 
  a 
  voyage 
  of 
  exploration. 
  Setting 
  a 
  northwesterlj^ 
  course 
  the 
  

   expedition 
  discovered 
  Florida, 
  a 
  landing 
  being 
  made 
  on 
  the 
  eastern 
  

   coast 
  somewhere 
  in 
  the 
  general 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Cape 
  Canaveral. 
  Sailing 
  

   southerly 
  then 
  they 
  encountered 
  on 
  April 
  22, 
  as 
  related 
  in 
  a 
  chronicle 
  

   of 
  the 
  expedition, 
  "a 
  current 
  such 
  that, 
  although 
  they 
  had 
  a 
  great 
  

  

  ' 
  Reprinted 
  by 
  permission 
  from 
  the 
  Geographical 
  Review, 
  July, 
  1929. 
  

  

  2 
  M. 
  F. 
  Maury: 
  The 
  Physical 
  Geography 
  of 
  the 
  Sea, 
  p. 
  25, 
  New 
  York, 
  1855. 
  

  

  » 
  J. 
  E. 
  Pillsbury: 
  The 
  Gulf 
  Stream: 
  Methods 
  of 
  the 
  Investigation, 
  and 
  Results 
  of 
  the 
  Research, 
  Appen- 
  

   dix 
  No. 
  10 
  of 
  Rep. 
  of 
  the 
  Supt. 
  of 
  the 
  Coast 
  and 
  Geodetic 
  Survey 
  for 
  1890, 
  pp. 
  459-620, 
  Washington. 
  

   D. 
  C, 
  1891; 
  reference 
  on 
  p. 
  472. 
  

  

  285 
  

  

  