Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-12-16
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
THE GULF STREAM

terrestrial phenomenon" was made
by the late Rear Admiral Elliott
Pillsbury, u. s. N, a former pres
ident of the National Geographic
Society and summarized by him n
a communication to the National
Geographic Magazine.
"In all oceans there are move
ments of the water (other than that
caused by the tides) which may re
said to be due primarily to the pre-
valent wind" Admiral Pillsbury
wrote.
The Oceans Calculation
I'm the two great oceans, the At
Iantic and the Pacific there Is to
be found both north and south OF
the equator, and also in the Indian
ocean. a similar circulation, that s
a general westerly movement In the
tropics, a flow toward the poles
along the eastern shores of the
continents, an easterly set in the
temperate zones, and a current to-
ward the equator along the western
shores. 1t thus becomes a grand
circular movement some parts being
quite slow, and other parts very
swift; sometimes there may be a
temporary interruption in the
SlOWCI POIliOlios u PChAA0Po WV ~
reversal, but taken as a whole the
movement is continuous.
"In the North Atlantic ocean the
currents are probably more pro-
nounced than in either the Pacific
or the Indian oceans.
THE equatorial current is usually
described as being a broad band OF
water moving across the Atlantic
in the tropics. The portion of this
current situated north of the equa-
tor il divided into two parts UPON
meeting the eastern salient of South
America, Cape st. Rogue. One
branch turns south toward the Ant
arctic, while the other is forced to
the west ward along the shores of
Northern Brazil and the Guyanasr
and is called the Guyana coast cur
rent. The equatorial current north
of the equator has an almost I'M
interrupted progress until it reaches
the -Windward Islands, but a portion
of it also inpines against the Guy
ana coast and thus augments the
volume of that current.
How Gulf Stream is Formed
AT the Windward Islands both
are united, and a portion of the flow
enters the Caribbean through the
various passages, crosses it to the
Yucatan and Honduras coasts, and
thence into the Gulf Stream. Pass
ing onward toward Europe it is aug
mented in volume by a part of the
north equatorial current that sweeps
along outside the West Indian Is
lands 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
combined flow mentioned above di-
vides as it meets the resistance of
the Eastern Continent one branch
flowing south along the AFRICAN
coast, while the other proceeds
Spitzbergen and Franz Joseph
Land.
at is difficult for the mind to
grasp the immensely of this great
ocean river. The straits of Florida
at its narrowest point is about forty
miles wide and observations here
numbered between three n four
thousand, surface n SubSurface.
A calculation of the average vol
ume of water passing in one hour
gives the enormous sun OF ninety
billion TONS. this one single
hours flow of water could be evap-
GRATED, the remaining salts would
require many times more than all
the ships in the world to carry it.
Magnitude of Ocean River
when one is on board a vessel,
floating upon its waters, n is moi
as much impressed at the power and
grandeur of this wonder of nature
as he is when he stands before a
towering mountain, an immense ice
berg, Or a fall of water such as Nj
agara. but when one remembers that
the mighty torrent, speeding on
hour by hour and day by day in
a volume equal to all the largest
rivers in the world combined, car
rying its benef1cent heat to tenn
per the climate of continents, one
begins to realize that OF all the
forces of the physical world none
can equal this river Of the
ocean,.
1T is interesting to note in the
history of the Gulf Stream how
great its influence has been ON the
fortunes of the New World. Before
the discovery of America. strange
woods and fruits were frequently
found on the shores of Europe and
off-lying islands. Some of these
were seen and examined by Column
bus and to his thoughtful mind they
were convincing evidence of ACE
that strange lands were somewhere
to the westward. These woods wee
carried by the Gulf Stream and by
the prevailing winds from the
American continent, so that in part.
the stream is responsible for the
discovery of the New World.
Influence in Colonizing America
THE influence of the Gulf Stream
in the colonization of America was
very great. The division of the
English colonies into New England
and Virginia was probably in part
due to the routes by which they
were reached. Vessels bound from
England to New England crossed
the North Atlantic outside the limit
of the Gulf Stream, or in a feeble
adverse current. They had the ad-
vantage too. of crossing the New
foundland Banks and of being able
to surely replenish their provisions
by fishing.
This voyage, however, much as
the advantages might be either by
the shorter distance or the gaining
of food. was not thought to be prac-
ticable with q vessel bound to the
Southern Colonies. They sailed
south to the wind region.
through the Caribbean and around
Cuba, thence following the Guls
Stream to their port.
THE Dutch adopted this passage
to the Hudson. SO that really Nan
tucket Island became the dividing