Norwich bulletin., 1922-11-09
IN THE DAYS NEWS
THE GULF STREAM.
e Gulf Stream?

Just what is the Gulf Stream?
 Discussions about its effects upon eli mate and mariners reports of it's exces- sfve heat recall that the first detailed study of what he called 'The grandest and most mighty territorial phenomen- on," was made by the late Rear Admiral John Elliott Pillsbury, U. S. N., a former president of the National Geographic So- ciety, and summarized by him in a com munication to the National Geographic Magazine.
 Tn all oceans there are movements of the water (other than that caused by the tides) which may be said to be due prim- arily to the prevalent wind," Admiral Pillsbury wrote.
 Tn the two great oceans. the Atlantic | and the Pacific, there is to be found both north and south of the equator, and all 1 so in the Indian Ocean, a similar cir culation, that is a general westerly move ment in the tropics, flow toward the poles along the eastern shores of the continents, an easterly set in the tenn 1 perate zones, and a current toward the equator along the western shores. It thus 1 becomes grand circular movement, some parts being quite slow, and other parts very swift; sometimes there may be a | temporary interruption in the slower DOT
 tions, or perhaps even a reversal, but 1 taken as a whole the movement is con- l tinuous.
 l "1n the North Atlantic Ocean the cur rents are probobly more pronounced than 1 in either the Pacific or the Indian Oceans. | The equatorial current is usually de- 1 scrlbed as being broad band of water moving across the Atlantic in the tropics.
 The portion of this current situated south
 of the equator is divided into two parts
 upon meeting the eastern salient of South
 America, Cape St. Roque One branch turns south toward the Antartic, while
 the other is forced to the westward along the shores of Northern Brazil and the Guyanas, and is called the Guyana coast
 current. The equatorial current north Of the equator has an almost uninterrupt-
 ed progress until it reaches the Wind
 ward Islands, but portion of it also
 imp1nges against the Guyana coast and thus augments the volume of that cur rent.
 1 At the Windward Islands both are
 united, and portion of the flow enters the Caribbean through the various pas- | sages crosses it to the Yucatan and Hon duras coasts, and thence into the Gulf of Mexico, from which it issues through the Straits of Florida as the Gulf Stream. F. sing onward toward Europe it is aug
 mgnted in volume by a part of the north
 equatorial current that sweeps along outside the West Indian Islands and the
 Bahamas, and while this current is slow
 in movement in comparison to the Gulf Stream itself, it doubtless carries a much greater number of heat units to help warm up northern Europe.
 '"The Gulf Stream, or rather the con- bined flow mentioned above divides as
 it meets the resistance of the Eastern Continent, one branch flowing south along
 the African coast, while the other pro. ceeds northward into the Arctic toward
 Spitzbergen and Franz Joseph Land.
 Tt is difficult for the mind to grasr
 the immensity of this great ocean river
 The straits of Florida at its narrowest point is about 40 miles wide and obser vations here numbered between three ant
 four thousand, surface and sub-surface 4 calculation of the average volume of wa ter passing in one hour gives the enor
 nous sum of 90 billion tons If this on,
 single hours flow of water could be evan orated, the remaining salts would reouir,
 many times more than all the ships i, the world to carry it.
 When one is on board a vessel. float ] ing upon its waters, one is not as mucl