The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1919-12-05

as he Is when he stands before tow
ering mountain. an immense iceberg,
or a fall OF water such as Niagara,
but when one remembers that the
mighty torrent, speeding on hour by
hour and day by day in volume
equal to all the largest rivers in the
world combined. carrying its benef-
cent heat to temper the climate of
continents, one begins to realize that
OF all the forces of the physical
world none can equal this one river
OF the ocean.
Ponce de Leon while on his ia
nous search for the Fountain Of
Youth made the discovery OF this
great stream. After his failure to find
on the coast of upper Florida the
means OF cheating death, he turned
to the southwark and skirted the
shore for hundreds of miles, thus
stemming the current.
THE name OF Gulf stream was
first suggested by Benjamin Franklin
because it issues from the Gulf of
Mexico. Whilesit is only part of
the grand scheme of ocean circula-
ton, and the Gulf OF Mexico is in
reality only a stopping place, as it
were, for it's waters, the name is gen.
orally applied to. the current now as
1t was given by Franklin-that is, the
current coming from the Gulf of Mex
leo and spreading abroad over the
north Atlantic.
THE theories as to the cause Of
ocean currents have been many.
"Franklln's theory. which has
many advocates II the present day,
was that the winds produce the cur
rent by the air moving over the sur
lace of the water, and he illustrated
this theory by the following: 1T is
known that a large piece of water
ten miles broad and generally only
three feet deep, duFing a strong wind
had its water driven 10 one side and
sustained so as to become six feet
deep while the windward side was
laid dry. AS will be seen later, this
is well taken example of the force
OF the wind in causing the Gulf
stream, but it does not quite show
the whole of the truth.
In the tropical regions there is a.
steady movement of the air from east
to west known as The trade winds.
South OF certain line situated near
the equator these winds flow from a
southwesterly direction, while north
OF the equator they come from a more
northeasterly direction. The winds
are not always strong, nor are they
constant In direction, but they do not
vary much, AMI then only for a brief
period
Winds blowing over the surface |
Of the water induce CURRENT in the |
latter due to friction At first it is
only the merest skim that moves, but |
gradually the motion is communica-i
ted from layer to layer until at last,
il the wind is strong continued as In
thsrtFade wind regions, the movement
extends to lower depths, 300 or 400
feet, or perhaps more.
These trade wind currents meet
finally. the partial barrier of the is
lands forming the eastern part of the
Caribbean and portion of the flow
escapes through them. From here it
continues it's course across the sea
until it reaches the obstruction of the
Honduras and Yucatan coasts, from
which it escapes by the easiest route,
which is into the Gulf Of Mexico.
"It has been found, however, that
the water entering the Caribbean by
this means is not more than one half
of the amount which flows through |
the Straits of Florida from the Gulf
of Mexico, and the other half is sup
piled from a source which does not
come under the head of a measure
able current. The other source isl
the wave caused by the wind. Every
ripple carries a certain amount of
water in the direction toward which
it is flowing, irrespective of the cur.
rent caused by its friction, and when
the waves become large, tons of wa
ter are hurled from the crest into the
trough every time the wave breaks.
In large sea like the Caribbean,
having a comparatively constant
wind blowing over its whole surface,
this action is practically simultan-
eous movement of it's surface waters
to the westward and a continual es-