The Gulf Stream

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The Gulf Stream
Image Courtesy of Benjamin Franklin. (He had it
just about right) http//www.ushistory.org/frankli
n/temple/images/gulf_stream.gif

• Justin Shapiro

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Location

• Western Boundary of the North Atlantic Ocean
• Sources Caribbean Sea, Antilles Current
• Sharp Transition zone between cold, dense water
  (Laborador) and warm, less dense water.

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Transport Heat

• Heat 1.4 petawatts of heat
• In conjunction with the Hadley Circulation, this
  heat transport moderates the climate of Europe.
• Some argue that the atmosphere plays a larger
  role here Mid-latitude Cyclones

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Transport Water

• Volume
• Through Florida Straights 30 Sv
• Max. Trans. At 55W 150 Sv

• Transport Increases due to mass contributions
  from the Worthington Gyre and the Northern
  Recirculation Gyre

• Downstream of Cape Hatteras, Transport Increases
  by 8Sv/100km

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Topographical Image oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.ed
u/atlantic/img_topo1/gulf-stream2.jpg
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Gulf Streams Sink

• Near 38N 44W Flow Diverges
• Toward Mid-Atlantic Ridge
• Azores Current (cold)(southward)
• Following north along the continental slope
• North Atlantic Current (warm)(Eastward)

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Time Variant Structure

• Large Values of Eddy Kinetic Energy at
  Labrador/Gulf Stream Interface
• 22 Warm Core and 35 Cold core rings are shed
  features persist from weeks to a year!
• Wanders much like a wriggling garden hose

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Scaling factors

• Width 80-150 km
• Depth 800-1200 m
• Average Speed 2 m/s

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Reference

• HYCOM Consortium, Live Access Data Server,
  http//hycom.coaps.fsu.edu/thredds/dodsC/atl_ops.h
  tml
• Joanna Gyory, Arthur J. Mariano, Edward H. Ryan.
  "The Gulf Stream." Ocean Surface Currents.
  http//oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/gulf
  -stream.html.
• Lee, Hoyle, A Gulf Stream Synthetic Geoid for
  the TOPEX Altimeter, 1997.