24. Are there strong currents at depths beneath the ocean sur- 

 face that might compare to the "jet stream" in the upper 

 levels of the atmosphere? 



In 1952, Townsend Cromwell of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 began investigation of a previously unknown subsurface current flowing 

 in a direction opposite to that of the surface currents. This current has 

 speeds up to 3 knots and could be used by submarines to increase speed 

 and reduce power requirements, just as the jet stream is used by high 

 flying aircraft. 



The Cromwell Current is a shallow current flowing eastward along 

 the Equator beneath the South Equatorial Current. In certain places, it 

 comes to within 100 feet of the surface; its bottom limit reaches a depth 

 of 750 feet. The flow is equal to half the volume of the Gulf Stream and 

 its extent is about 8,000 miles, from New Guinea to the coast of Ecuador. 



A similar undercurrent is known to exist below the South Equatorial 

 Current in the Atlantic. Investigations by British and American ships 

 during the International Geophysical Year revealed that this current 

 flows in a direction opposite to that of the Gulf Stream at speeds of 

 1.5 to 15 miles a day. This countercurrent is much deeper than the 

 Cromwell Current. 



It is also suspected that a countercurrent exists in the equatorial 

 region of the Indian Ocean. 



Caidin, Martin 



Hydrospace, E. P. Dutton and Company, 1964. 

 Engel, Leonard and Editors of LIFE 



The Sea, Life Nature Library, Time, Inc., 1961. 

 Yasso, Warren E. 



Oceanography, A Study of Inner Space, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 



1965. 



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