The Gulf Stream
One of the most famous ocean surface currents is the Gulf Stream current, which is shown as the orange and yellow flow of water up the east coast of the United States. The Gulf Stream current is part of a large gyre in the North Atlantic Ocean. It originates in the Gulf of Mexico, moves north up the east coast, and then crosses the Atlantic Ocean toward Europe.
The Gulf Stream is extremely powerful and transports up to 150 million cubic meters of highly saline water per second. Since it originates in the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf Stream carries warm water northward. As it travels north, it is cooled by the winds. By the time it reaches the shores of Northern Europe, it is cold and dense, and it sinks down into the deep ocean.
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 The Gulf Stream has several influences on climate. As it leaves the Gulf of Mexico, it enters the Florida Straits, shown in this satellite image. It makes the water along the Florida coast unseasonably warm, even during the winter, and makes Florida beaches a popular tourist attraction. It also affects the climate of Ireland, England, Scotland and Norway when it reaches the northern end of its journey. It tends to make these areas several degrees warmer than they would otherwise be. In Norway, for example, ice is seldom found on the coastal areas even though Norway lies close to the Arctic Circle, where snow and ice cover the ground almost completely in the winter. | |
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 Because the Gulf Stream carries warm water that often meets up with cooler water, a temperature gradient develops along its boundary. This intensifies cyclones, which are areas of swift circling winds that form a spiral over the ocean. Along the eastern U.S., these storms sometimes become violent hurricanes. | |
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 The Gulf Stream transports heat that equals more than 100 times the current world energy demand. Some scientists are researching ways to harness this energy and use it. One idea is to place turbines in the ocean. These turbines could generate electricity from the energy transported by the Gulf Stream. Turbines, like the one shown in the image, are machines that extract energy from a fluid, such as water, steam, or wind, and convert it to usable work. | |
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