Gulf Stream

The Gulf Stream is a powerful, warm Atlantic Ocean current that flows from the Gulf of Mexico along the eastern United States and toward western Europe.

North Atlantic subtropical gyre: A large clockwise system of surface currents spanning the North Atlantic subtropics. The Gulf Stream is the western boundary current of this circulation system.
Juan Ponce de León: A Spanish explorer who led expeditions to Florida in the early sixteenth century. His 1513 account is often cited as an early European description of the current’s force.
Western boundary intensification: The tendency for wind-driven ocean gyres to concentrate strong currents along their western boundaries. It explains why the Gulf Stream carries a narrow, swift flow beside the eastern United States.
Antilles Current: A current flowing northward east of the Bahamas, supplied partly by water from the North Atlantic subtropical gyre. It flows beside the Gulf Stream’s approach to the Florida Straits but follows a distinct route.
Western boundary current: A narrow, fast current flowing poleward along the western edge of an ocean basin. This current’s speed and narrowness follow the dynamics shared by western boundary currents.
Benjamin Franklin: An American polymath who served as deputy postmaster general of British North America. Franklin helped map the current to improve transatlantic mail-ship routes.
Gulf Stream rings: Large rotating eddies that detach from the Gulf Stream and carry warm or cold water. These rings redistribute heat and nutrients beyond the current’s main path.
North Atlantic Current: An eastward-flowing current that continues from the Gulf Stream system into the North Atlantic. It is a downstream continuation, not another name for the Gulf Stream itself.
Coriolis effect: The apparent deflection of moving objects caused by Earth’s rotation. Earth’s rotation helps organize the wind-driven circulation that feeds the Gulf Stream.
Timothy Folger: An American whaling captain and navigator who supplied Benjamin Franklin with Gulf Stream knowledge. Folger’s observations informed the chart Franklin published in 1769.

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