GULF STREAM 



2039 



GULF STREAM 



was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 

 1830, and following the Revolution of the same 

 year became Minister of the Interior, resigning 

 a few months later. 



In 1840 he spent some months in London as 

 French ambassador to England, but was recalled 

 by the king to form a new ministry. He was 

 Prime Minister for the eight years preceding 

 the abdication of Louis Philippe. His arbi- 

 trary refusal during this period to make conces- 

 sions demanded by existing political conditions 

 brought about his political downfall, and after 

 the fall of Louis Philippe he fled to England. 

 Upon his retirement from public life he devoted 

 himself to literary work and produced a History 



and becomes merged into the general drift of 

 the warm water which flows from the Atlantic 

 in a northeasterly direction towards the coast 

 of Europe, and is known as the Gulf Stream 

 drift. 



Description. When the Gulf Stream i>suc- 

 from the Gulf of Mexico it form- a well-defined 

 current about fifty miles wide and about 2,000 

 feet deep, distinguished by its deep blue or 

 indigo color and by its lii^h temperature, which 

 is several degrees above that of the surrounding 

 water. The swiftness of the current diminishes 

 as it progresses. Within the Florida channel 

 it attains an average velocity of sixty-five miles 

 per day; this decreases to fifty-six miles off 



COURSE OF THE .MAIN STREAM AND BRANCHES 



of the English Revolution, General History oj 

 Civilization in Europe, The History oj Civiliza- 

 tion in France and The History oj France from 

 the Earliest Times to the Year 1789. 



GULF STREAM, the most important and 

 the largest of the oceanic currents. It derives 

 its name from the Gulf of Mexico, out of which 

 it flows. For its origin, see the article OCEAN 

 CUIIKENTS, in these volumes. The Gulf Stream 

 issues from the Gulf of Mexico through the 

 Florida Strait, and flows northward between the 

 coast of Florida and the Bahama Islands. It 

 follows a course parallel to the coast of the 

 United States, from which it is separated by 

 a narrow strip of cold water, known to sailors 

 as the "cold wall." It flows past Cape Hatteras, 

 and then moves northeastward until it reaches 

 the southern edge of the Newfoundland Hanks. 

 Here it loses its identity as a distinct current 



Charleston, becomes thirty-six to forty-.-i\ 

 miles off Nantucket and twenty-right, miles to 

 the south of Newfoundland Banks. About 300 

 miles east of Newfoundland its movement is 

 hardly perceptible. 



Division. When the Gulf Stream drift ap- 

 proaches the European side of the Atlantic 

 Ocean it divides into two parts, one Mieum 

 going southward towards the western rnaM oi 

 Africa, and the other going northward along the 

 western coast of the British Isles. This north- 

 ern current then breaks into three brain In- 

 One branch runs through the strait between tin- 

 Faroe and the Shetland islands, goes northward 

 along the coast of Norway and enters the Arc- 

 tic Ocean, where it spreads over a laru- 

 A second branch flows to the west side of Ice- 

 land, while a third branch goes up the 

 land side of Davis Strait into Baflin Hay. 



