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EFFECT OF THE GULF STREAM ON CLIMATE. 75
winds,* on the climate of Western Europe. While rotating in the Gulf
of Mexico as in an immense caldron, the waters of the current are gradually heated : when they escape through the Strait of Bernini to enter the
ocean, their temperature is not less than 86° Fahr., and exceeds by about
4° Fahr. the natural heat of the neighboring beds of water. The waters
of the Gulf Stream lose their warmth but slowly, and during winter they
often have, off Cape Hatteras and the Banks of Newfoundland, a temperature exceeding by 21° or 28° Fahr. that of the rest of the Atlantic under the same latitudes. When the Gulf Stream meets the polar current,
the former has still a temperature of 36° or even 45° Fahr., while, even
at a distance of some hundreds of miles from the coasts of Labrador, the
latter is sometimes found to be below freezing-point (24*8° Fahr.) ; thus,
in defiance of latitude, the waters of the tropics and of the icy zone are
brought into juxtaposition. In its advance toward the north, the upper strata, which in consequence q/ radiation have become colder than
the subjacent layers, descend to a greater or less depth in the mass of
the current, and are replaced by the warmer and lighter water lying immediately below. Thus a constant alternation of position is produced in
the liquid strata of the Gulf Stream, and one may remark in consequence,
in crossing the whole breadth of the current, a series of parallel bands of
unequal temperature.f In each of these bands the warm water rises by
turns to the chilled surface of the sea. It is a remarkable fact, that if the
Gulf Stream did not flow as it does in a bed entirely composed of cold
water, but moved along the very bottom of the ocean, it would rapidly
lose its high temperature, and would cease in consequence to be a source
of heat for Western Europe. In fact, the earth being a better conductor
of heat than the water, the warm waters of the current would communicate their temperature to it, and would finally lose their whole store.
But the cold waters of the polar current, being interposed between the
bottom of the sea and the waters of the Gulf Stream, serve as a protecting screen to the latter, and hinder their refrigeration. It is by such contrasts as these that the harmony of the world is established.
The quantity of heat which the Gulf Stream carries toward the northern regions forms a very considerable part of the caloric stored up in its
waters under the tropics. The cetaceans, fish, and other inhabitants of
the torrid zone follow the course of the Gulf Stream without perceiving
that they have changed their country, and often push their adventurous
voyages to the Azores, and even to the coasts of Iceland ; the southern
birds mount also toward the north in the warm stream of air reposing on
the current. The animals of northern seas, on the contrary, are kept
prisoners in the glacial ocean, and the right whales, says Maury, recoil
before the Gulf Stream as before " a barrier of flame." The total warmth
of the. current would suffice, if it was centred in a single point, to fuse
mountains of iron, and cause a river of metal as mighty as the Mississippi
* See the chapter entitled Climates.
f Franklin Bache, United States Coast-Survey.
| Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
| Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
| Publisher | Harper |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1873 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000086 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | EFFECT OF THE GULF STREAM ON CLIMATE. 75 winds,* on the climate of Western Europe. While rotating in the Gulf of Mexico as in an immense caldron, the waters of the current are gradually heated : when they escape through the Strait of Bernini to enter the ocean, their temperature is not less than 86° Fahr., and exceeds by about 4° Fahr. the natural heat of the neighboring beds of water. The waters of the Gulf Stream lose their warmth but slowly, and during winter they often have, off Cape Hatteras and the Banks of Newfoundland, a temperature exceeding by 21° or 28° Fahr. that of the rest of the Atlantic under the same latitudes. When the Gulf Stream meets the polar current, the former has still a temperature of 36° or even 45° Fahr., while, even at a distance of some hundreds of miles from the coasts of Labrador, the latter is sometimes found to be below freezing-point (24*8° Fahr.) ; thus, in defiance of latitude, the waters of the tropics and of the icy zone are brought into juxtaposition. In its advance toward the north, the upper strata, which in consequence q/ radiation have become colder than the subjacent layers, descend to a greater or less depth in the mass of the current, and are replaced by the warmer and lighter water lying immediately below. Thus a constant alternation of position is produced in the liquid strata of the Gulf Stream, and one may remark in consequence, in crossing the whole breadth of the current, a series of parallel bands of unequal temperature.f In each of these bands the warm water rises by turns to the chilled surface of the sea. It is a remarkable fact, that if the Gulf Stream did not flow as it does in a bed entirely composed of cold water, but moved along the very bottom of the ocean, it would rapidly lose its high temperature, and would cease in consequence to be a source of heat for Western Europe. In fact, the earth being a better conductor of heat than the water, the warm waters of the current would communicate their temperature to it, and would finally lose their whole store. But the cold waters of the polar current, being interposed between the bottom of the sea and the waters of the Gulf Stream, serve as a protecting screen to the latter, and hinder their refrigeration. It is by such contrasts as these that the harmony of the world is established. The quantity of heat which the Gulf Stream carries toward the northern regions forms a very considerable part of the caloric stored up in its waters under the tropics. The cetaceans, fish, and other inhabitants of the torrid zone follow the course of the Gulf Stream without perceiving that they have changed their country, and often push their adventurous voyages to the Azores, and even to the coasts of Iceland ; the southern birds mount also toward the north in the warm stream of air reposing on the current. The animals of northern seas, on the contrary, are kept prisoners in the glacial ocean, and the right whales, says Maury, recoil before the Gulf Stream as before " a barrier of flame." The total warmth of the. current would suffice, if it was centred in a single point, to fuse mountains of iron, and cause a river of metal as mighty as the Mississippi * See the chapter entitled Climates. f Franklin Bache, United States Coast-Survey. |
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