142 THE OCEAN RIVER 



calculate in precise mathematical terms the effects of the wind 

 as a motive power for currents, there is much still to be done. 

 These calculations only account in their present form for 

 about half of the water flow. Perhaps, when some of the fac- 

 tors involved here have been studied in greater detail it will 

 be found that the wind is responsible for a much greater part 

 of the Ocean River. The question of how far the heat engine 

 shares the work is not yet solved. 



Science advances by steps. From a study of observations and 

 measurements a theory is drawn that seems to explain their 

 working. From a consideration of the practical consequences 

 arising from this theory comes a need for new observations 

 and measurements to test its truth. And from the new obser- 

 vations comes a modification of the theory to make them fit. 

 And so it is with oceanography. The drive of scientific curios- 

 ity and the need to fit theory and fact led to a demand for 

 more observations of the detailed behavior and structure of 

 the Gulf Stream. 



One important source of the information needed has been 

 the operation of vessels patrolling the area where the warm 

 Atlantic and polar waters meet and where icebergs find their 

 way into the North Atlantic shipping lanes. This is a direct 

 result of the tragic loss of the Titanic in 1912 after her colli- 

 sion with an iceberg. As a future safeguard to transatlantic 

 traffic, the U. S. Navy Hydrographic Office suggested the for- 

 mation of the International Ice Patrol, and this is now in 

 continuous operation, using vessels and men of the U. S. 

 Coast Guard. 



The great amount of observation which has gone into the 

 Hydrographic Office pilot and current charts from such 

 sources as the Ice Patrol fails to show the daily pulses and 

 meanderings of the Gulf Stream but instead gives an average 

 view. The faster changes are harder to observe. One of the 

 chief difficulties has been that a research vessel cannot be in 



