15. How long (and big) is the Gulf Stream? 



It is difficult to set exact boundaries for the Gulf Stream. There is 

 much meandering, with eddies and offshoots. Also, the Gulf Stream 

 is part of a larger system, known as the Gulf Stream System, which en- 

 compasses the entire northward and eastward flow from the Straits of 

 Florida, including the branches crossing the North Atlantic from the 

 region south of the Newfoundland Banks. The Gulf Stream proper is 

 the portion between the Straits of Florida and the Grand Banks. 



The flow of water through the Straits of Florida is about 26 million 

 cubic meters per second. By the time the Stream reaches Chesapeake 

 Bay, the transport has increased to 75-90 million cubic meters per sec- 

 ond because of the addition of Sargasso water and deep water. Beyond 

 the Grand Banks, the flow decreases to less than 40 million cubic meters 

 per second, since part of the water turns southward. 



Carson, R. L. 



The Sea Around Us, Oxford University Press, 1951; Mentor Books 



(Paperback), 1954. 

 Stommel, Henry 



The Gulf Stream, University of California Press, 1958. 

 U. S. Naval Oceanographic Office 



Science and the Sea, Washington, D. C, 1967. 



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