﻿288 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  that 
  by 
  Pillsbury 
  cited 
  in 
  footnote 
  3. 
  In 
  passing, 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  noted 
  

   that 
  this 
  systematic 
  work 
  was 
  confined 
  almost 
  wholly 
  to 
  the 
  Gulf 
  

   Stream 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  

  

  The 
  published 
  material 
  on 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  is 
  extensive. 
  Here 
  

   it 
  will 
  be 
  sufficient 
  to 
  direct 
  attention 
  only 
  to 
  the 
  more 
  authoritative 
  

   recent 
  work. 
  Kriimmel, 
  in 
  what 
  is 
  still 
  the 
  standard 
  treatise 
  on 
  

   oceanography/ 
  gives 
  a 
  brief 
  but 
  critical 
  summary 
  of 
  the 
  hydrograpbic 
  

   features 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  as 
  developed 
  to 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  decade 
  

   of 
  the 
  present 
  century, 
  and 
  Schott 
  ^ 
  brings 
  the 
  discussion 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  

   present 
  time. 
  And, 
  while 
  dealing 
  with 
  but 
  a 
  restricted 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   Gulf 
  Stream, 
  Wiist's 
  study 
  ^ 
  should 
  be 
  mentioned 
  here 
  because 
  it 
  

   represents 
  a 
  successful 
  attempt 
  to 
  correlate 
  and 
  elucidate 
  the 
  phenom- 
  

   ena 
  involved 
  in 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  m^athematical, 
  or 
  more 
  

   accurately 
  perhaps, 
  dynamical 
  methods. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  customary 
  to 
  trace 
  the 
  last 
  remnant 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  into 
  

   the 
  Arctic 
  waters 
  north 
  of 
  Norway. 
  From 
  its 
  place 
  of 
  origin 
  in 
  the 
  

   Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico, 
  therefore, 
  this 
  current 
  traverses 
  a 
  route 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  

   6,000 
  miles. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  as 
  a 
  "river 
  in 
  the 
  ocean" 
  that 
  it 
  mani- 
  

   fests 
  itself 
  throughout 
  its 
  course. 
  The 
  phenomena 
  presented 
  are 
  

   much 
  more 
  involved, 
  and 
  the 
  stream 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  regarded 
  rather 
  as 
  a 
  

   complex 
  system 
  of 
  currents 
  than 
  as 
  a 
  single 
  current. 
  We 
  may 
  arrive 
  

   at 
  an 
  understanding 
  of 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  forces 
  and 
  factors 
  involved 
  

   by 
  a 
  brief 
  consideration 
  of 
  its 
  characteristics 
  in 
  the 
  region 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  

   has 
  been 
  most 
  carefully 
  studied. 
  

  

  THE 
  CURRENT 
  IN 
  THE 
  STRAITS 
  OF 
  FLORIDA 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  in 
  its 
  first 
  reach, 
  through 
  the 
  Straits 
  of 
  Florida, 
  that 
  the 
  

   characterists 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  are 
  most 
  marked. 
  Here 
  its 
  waters 
  

   have 
  the 
  highest 
  temperature 
  and 
  salinity 
  and 
  the 
  swiftest 
  flow. 
  And 
  

   because 
  it 
  is 
  here 
  confined 
  within 
  a 
  restricted 
  channel 
  it 
  lends 
  itself 
  

   more 
  readily 
  to 
  investigation. 
  Observations 
  have 
  here 
  been 
  made 
  

   across 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  sections; 
  and 
  with 
  this 
  stretch, 
  too, 
  Wiist's 
  study 
  

   mentioned 
  above 
  is 
  concerned. 
  

  

  Figure 
  2, 
  which 
  is 
  adapted 
  from 
  Coast 
  and 
  Geodetic 
  Survey 
  Chart 
  

   1007, 
  visualizes 
  the 
  hydrographic 
  features 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  for 
  the 
  

   first 
  400 
  miles 
  of 
  its 
  course. 
  The 
  region 
  where 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico 
  

   narrows 
  to 
  form 
  the 
  channel 
  between 
  Florida 
  Keys 
  and 
  Cuba 
  may 
  be 
  

   regarded 
  as 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream. 
  Here 
  the 
  width 
  of 
  its 
  

   channel 
  is 
  95 
  nautical 
  miles. 
  Eastward 
  the 
  channel 
  becomes 
  nar- 
  

   rower, 
  reaching 
  its 
  least 
  width 
  in 
  the 
  so-called 
  narrows, 
  abreast 
  of 
  

   Cape 
  Florida, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  but 
  half 
  its 
  original 
  width. 
  From 
  here 
  it 
  

   widens 
  somewhat 
  until 
  it 
  meets 
  the 
  open 
  sea 
  north 
  of 
  Little 
  Bahama 
  

   Bank. 
  

  

  ' 
  otto 
  Kriimmel: 
  Handbuch 
  der 
  Ozeanographie, 
  2 
  vols., 
  Stuttgart, 
  1907-1911. 
  

  

  • 
  Gerhard 
  Schott: 
  Geographie 
  des 
  Atlantischen 
  Ozeans, 
  2nd 
  edit., 
  pp. 
  180-205, 
  Hamburg, 
  1926. 
  

  

  • 
  Georg 
  wast: 
  Florida 
  und 
  Antillenstrom, 
  Veroflentl. 
  Inst, 
  fiir 
  Meereskunde, 
  No. 
  12, 
  Berlin, 
  1924. 
  

  

  