Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-29
THE GULF STREAM.
some Interesting Facts About 1t.
Il. IL L.

This remarkable ocean current can be
distinctly seen ahead Of the vessel as
separate. clearly defined liquid roadway
i'm The sea. by the yOyager who comes upon
II On tie sea trip from New YORK 70 Ha-
wanna. when apprOa ching the lower part of
tine long Peninsula Of Florida. 1t is
bIucr belt in the midst Of the blue sea, and
seems "A little raised and ruiiled; its inner
edge. facing the Florida shore-but at a
considerable distance from it's much
more sharply defined than the outer or
ocean edge. At the lower end Of Florida
II Is 40 miles wide; but il widens out as it
sweep on. going nOrthwaTd, till of Cape
Hatteras it bends away eastward, a wide
and somewhat divided stream, hundred
and fifty miles wideg and sweeps by the
lonely isles Of the Bermuda group on the
rigbt side. TO save them from frOsis and
give them a climate Of endless spring-tO
Wit. on the north side-and goes on to
Europe 20 save Ireland and England from
winters as hard as NeTmOnps.
This great stream is but a prOlOngation
81 the -quaCOrIal current OF the Atlantic.
That warm. wide lane Of the sea, first
moving water following up the African
-.West Coast. =" going nOrth, makes bend in
tLeequat0rial regions and rushes on west
ward or southWestward towards the coast
0t Upper South America. In doing that
n wfI-us rs it goes. becomes the eQuatO-
steady trade wind, takes with il from the
African shore the heated surface water Of
that t0rrId coast. This it carries over to
the American side; there its southwest
slant. on meeting the barrier Of the coast,
gives FL a n0rthward direction, and sends
ID uu through the strait between the west
end Of cuba and the coast OF Yucatan
into the Gulf Of Mexico. 1t heaps up the
water ol that vast gulf as il follows the
shore. Gin il finally passes down by the
CapCs or Florida, and, still Obeying its
initial impulse, goes round that cape and
acquires there a velocity Of perhaps four
miles an hour. IL maintains its original
impulse and now Tushes north between
Florida and the Bahamas, and, owing TO
the confguratiOn Of the coast, it reaches
I'm some places velocity OF five miles an
hour; bat its general movement is not
taste- than three or three and half.
10 is called the Gulf Stream because
when first seen il pOurs out Of the Gulf Of
Mexico. Oh South Florida, and for much
OF the way up this side Of the cape, it Is
about a thousand feet deep; it is Of, appar-
emily. q deep indigo blue. partly owing to
its depth, and partly 10 the summer sky
that bends above It,.
ON either side is a great body Of cold
water-heavier, denser-the gift Of the
fEr-Of Greenland seas, not quite changed,
even in hot ATTITUDES. Compressed be-
tween these two liquid walls, the waters
Of the Gulf Stream form moving body,
which glides over the empire Of the sea,
pushing far away anything which may be
cast adrilt upon its bosom.
'ln the greatest dr0Ughts," says Com
mOdOre Maury. lit never becomes dry,
and en- the highest floods il never over
flows It's boundaries. It's beds and shores
are ALIKE, LAYERS of cold water. In no
part OF the world does there exist so ma
iestic a current. IL is more rapid than
the Amazon, more impetuOus than the
Mississippi. and the united waters OF these
two rivers do not represent a thOusandth
part OF the mass which it displaces."
With the aid Of the thermometer, the
navigator can follow this great liquid ar
terry. plunged alternately in its edges or
in its centre, it indicates temperatures
which differ fifteen degrees. Powerful
and rapid, the Gulf Stream pursues its
way in a nOrtherly direction, following
the shores Of the United States as far as
the banks Of Newfoundland. 1t then has
10 sustain a terrible shock from a polar
current, which drifts along immense ice
bergs. absolute mountains of ice. so i'm
mense that one Of them, weighing more
than twenty billions of tons, swept the
vessel OF Lieutenant DeHaVen three hun
dred leagues toward the south. The Gulf
Stream, with its warm waters, dissOlves
the floating ice; the icebergs break up the
soil: gravel, and even small fragments of
rock. which they have carried along with
them, are swallowed up by the sea. The
myriads Of infusOria and other animal
Culg, which swarm in the Gulf Stream,
collect upon these fragments. whilst rocks,
earthly matter, debris of every description
are piled up and heaped up full well. till
they rise 20 the surface, aud Will one day
appear above the ocean level promising
islands, and, perhaps, continents, for 1t IS
thus that the banks of newfoundland have
already been formed.
But tn this fierce contest the Gulf Stream
is vauquished. Ii is broken by the impetu-
Gus shock and becomes subdiYided into
several currents; one Of them flows north
ward and melts the ices Of Norway, soft
ening its rigorous climate. 1t still pre-
serves sufficient impulse to advance as
far as Iceland, and occasionally to cast
upon the coast Of that island trunks OF
trees or fragments Of wood which it has
torn from the shores Of the New World.
1t is the only fuel which the Icelanders,
half frozen as they are, at the foot Of
volcano, are able TO obtain.
The right arm Of the Gulf Stream tends
eastward. aud directs its course TO the
British Islands, which it surrounds with
what may be termed a mild and genial
LIQUID girdle. Ii sOftens the climate Of
scotland and endOws ii with emerald
prairies.
Its left arm enters the British Channel
and causes the fig tree to flourish in Brit
tany. while It forces into early maturity
these fruits Of the earth which so richly
abound in Cornwall and DevOnshire, and
supply .he markets of London itself.
Without this genial current, which dis
penses so widely the blessings OF life and
heat, Scotland would have the climate OF
Siberia. which, situated beneath the same
OH
cold.
The Gulf Stream exercises an important
influence on meteOrOlgy. Violent storms
and squalls usually follow in its track.
The waves Of this mighty current are ire
QuentIy agitated by tempests. excited by
gales which blow in circular course;
terrible cyclones; vast columns Of air IN
every direction evolve upon themselves
and give birth to tremendous whlrlpO0ls.
The sea is still more formidable when the
wind blows in a direction contrary 10 that
Of the Gulf Stream. and IL often happens
that the atmospheric currents traverse
from ore end TO the other, the curve de-
scribed by this body of warm water.
In the vast liquid triangle formed by the
Azores, me Canarles and the Cape Nerde
Islands. in the centre of the great oceanic
circle. OF which the Gulf Stream forms
part. are 20 be found, on tract extending
over many thousand leagues, such guam
tity Of marine plants that the progress OF
ships is frequently INSTRUCTED.
d This accumulation Of alg9 is also due
10 the currents of the sea. The Atlantic
is an immense basin, in the midst Of which
the weeds torn from its shores form what
is called the SargOssO sea. The SargOssO
sea is not a phenomenon peculiar to the
Atlantic: il is TO be found in all great
oceans. The Pacific Ocean has its Gulf
Stream and its Sea of SargOssO.
The main purpose Of the ocean currents
seems % be the equalization Of the tenn
peratures OF our globe. The discovery OF
them. 81 long unknown, IS one OF the
proudest couquests of science, which Of
feTs 70 the thinking mind vast neld oil
study and meditation discovery lnYal-
liable 20 the navigator, who, lost in the
University Of ocean, can now ind tracks
already formed, threads which can guide
him through the vast labyrinth.
These streams of the sea, whose track
is followed by navigatOrs in the midst Of
the vast Pacific. these currents, whose
source IS SIN largely involved in as much
mystery ls their final issue-these hidden
arteries WITHIN the bosom OF ocean-this