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  ANNUAL 
  EEPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  North 
  Atlantic 
  consists 
  of 
  two 
  currents 
  — 
  a 
  circumpolar 
  current 
  and 
  

   an 
  equatorial 
  current 
  — 
  and 
  various 
  so-called 
  transgressions, 
  by 
  which 
  

   name 
  he 
  denominates 
  slow 
  periodic 
  movements 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  of 
  the 
  

   nature 
  of 
  long-period 
  tidal 
  movements. 
  The 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  in 
  parti- 
  

   cular 
  he 
  reduces 
  to 
  a 
  mixture 
  of 
  the 
  equatorial 
  current 
  with 
  the 
  

   tidal 
  current 
  from 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico, 
  which 
  tidal 
  current 
  he 
  men- 
  

   tions 
  as 
  being 
  violent. 
  "This 
  tidal 
  current 
  — 
  the 
  true 
  Gulf 
  Stream- 
  

   is 
  compelled 
  to 
  move 
  into 
  the 
  open 
  sea 
  by 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  

   waters 
  of 
  the 
  Labrador 
  Current 
  which 
  skirt 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  

   States" 
  (p. 
  19). 
  

  

  Now 
  there 
  are 
  data 
  at 
  hand, 
  as 
  we 
  shall 
  see 
  later, 
  which 
  completely 
  

   disprove 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  violent 
  tidal 
  currents 
  in 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico. 
  

  

  Figure 
  7.— 
  Isotherms 
  of 
  the 
  surface 
  waters, 
  North 
  Atlantic 
  Ocean. 
  (Adapted 
  from 
  Schott) 
  

  

  Moreover, 
  in 
  characterizing 
  the 
  current 
  in 
  the 
  Straits 
  of 
  Florida 
  as 
  a 
  

   tidal 
  current 
  Le 
  Danois 
  must 
  have 
  in 
  mind 
  something 
  quite 
  different 
  

   from 
  what 
  is 
  commonly 
  understood 
  by 
  the 
  term, 
  namely, 
  a 
  periodic 
  

   forward 
  and 
  backward 
  movement 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  with 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  half 
  

   a 
  day 
  or 
  a 
  day. 
  And 
  in 
  invoking 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  the 
  Labrador 
  Current 
  

   along 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  he 
  surely 
  does 
  not 
  strengthen 
  his 
  

   case; 
  for, 
  as 
  we 
  have 
  seen, 
  the 
  view 
  that 
  the 
  Labrador 
  Current 
  

   reaches 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  is 
  no 
  longer 
  tenable. 
  

  

  The 
  reality 
  of 
  the 
  movement 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  from 
  the 
  lower 
  latitudes 
  

   of 
  the 
  western 
  North 
  Atlantic 
  to 
  the 
  higher 
  latitudes 
  of 
  the 
  eastern 
  

  

  