North Atlantic Current (North Atlantic Drift) 
The North Atlantic Current originates from extensions of the 
Gulf Stream and the Labrador Current near the edge of the Grand Bank. 
As the current fans outward and widens into a northeast through east 
set, it decreases sharply in speed and persistence. Some influence 
of the Gulf Stream is noticeable near the extreme southwest boundary 
of the current, where a narrow band sets east along the “43°N parallel; | 
this flow is stronger and more constant than the current on either 
side, and its width, speed, and persistence diminish to about 29°W. 
A total of almost 49,000 surface drift observations in the 
region 45°-50°N, 15°-35°W show a general prevailing set east by 
northeast, usually ranging between 40 and 45 percent of the time at 
a mean speed of 0.4 knot during both summer and winter; speeds seldom 
exceed 1.2 knots. In this region about 92 percent of all observations 
are between 0.1 and 0.9 knot, 4 percent between 1 and 2 knots, and only 
0.2 percent over 2 knots; calms average almost 4 percent. 
In the region 55°-60°N, 10°-25°W a total of over 3,600 observations 
also show the current to have a mean speed of O.4 knot but to prevail 
northeastward at a smaller frequency (between 25 and 40 percent). ‘The 
current is only slightly stronger and more persistent in the western 
part of this region than in the eastern part; 90 percent of all 
observations are between 0.1 and 0.9 knot, 4 percent between 1 and 2 knots, 
and less than 0.5 percent over 2 knots; almost 6 percent are calms. 
7 
