:Gulf Stream

File:Franklin-Folger Gulf Stream chart, London, 1769 version, LOC.jpg's chart of the Gulf Stream printed in London in 1769]]

European discovery of the Gulf Stream dates to the 1512 expedition of Juan Ponce de León, after which it became widely used by Spanish ships sailing from the Caribbean to Spain.{{cite book |last= Fernandez-Armesto |first= Felipe |title= Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration |year= 2006 |publisher= W. W. Norton & Company |isbn= 978-0-393-06259-5 |page= [https://archive.org/details/pathfindersgloba00fern/page/194 194] |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/pathfindersgloba00fern/page/194 }} A summary of Ponce de León's voyage log on April 22, 1513, noted, "A current such that, although they had great wind, they could not proceed forwards, but backwards and it seems that they were proceeding well; at the end, it was known that the current was more powerful than the wind."{{cite web |url=http://www.keyshistory.org/gulfstream.html |title=History of the Gulf Stream |last=Wilkinson|first=Jerry |work=Keys Historeum |publisher=Historical Preservation Society of the Upper Keys|access-date=15 July 2010}}

Benjamin Franklin became interested in the North Atlantic Ocean circulation patterns. In 1768, while in England, Franklin heard a curious complaint from the Colonial Board of Customs: "Why did it take British packets several weeks longer to reach New York from England than it took an average American merchant ship to reach Newport, Rhode Island, despite the merchant ships leaving from London and having to sail down the River Thames and then the length of the English Channel before they sailed across the Atlantic, while the packets left from Falmouth in Cornwall?"{{cite book |first1=Barbara W. |last1= Tuchman |author-link=Barbara W. Tuchman |title=The First Salute: A View of the American Revolution |location=New York |publisher=Ballantine Books |year=1988 |pages=221–222}}

Franklin asked his cousin Timothy Folger, a Nantucket Island whaling captain, for an answer. Folger explained that merchant ships routinely crossed the current—which was identified by whale behaviour, measurement of the water's temperature, and changes in the water's colour—while the mail packet captains ran against it. Franklin had Folger sketch the path of the current on a chart of the Atlantic and add notes on how to avoid the current when sailing from England to America. Franklin then forwarded the chart to Anthony Todd, secretary of the British Post Office. Franklin's Gulf Stream chart was printed in 1769 in London, but it was mostly ignored by British sea captains.{{cite web |url=http://www.studyofplace.info/ActivityContent/Materials/OceanCurrents_Reading_BenFranklinGulfStream.pdf |title=Ben Franklin and the Gulf Stream |last=Isserman |first=Maurice |year=2002 |work=Study of place |publisher=TERC |access-date=15 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721233934/http://www.studyofplace.info/ActivityContent/Materials/OceanCurrents_Reading_BenFranklinGulfStream.pdf |archive-date=21 July 2011 |url-status=dead }} A copy of the chart was printed in Paris circa 1770–1773, and a third version was published by Franklin in Philadelphia in 1786.{{cite web |url=http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/library/readings/gulf/gulf.html |title=1785: Benjamin Franklin's 'Sundry Maritime Observations' |author=Anon |work=Ocean Explorer: Readings for ocean explorers |publisher=NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research |access-date=15 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051218185445/http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/library/readings/gulf/gulf.html |archive-date=18 December 2005 }}{{cite journal |last1=Richardson |first1=Philip L. |last2=Adams |first2=Nathan T. |title=Uncharted Waters: Nantucket Whalers and the Franklin-Folger Chart of the Gulf Stream |journal=Historic Nantucket |date=Spring 2018 |volume=68 |issue=1 |pages=17–24 |url=https://issuu.com/nantuckethistoricalassociation/docs/hnspring_2018_3.5.18}}

The Gulf Stream proper is a western-intensified current, driven largely by wind stress.{{cite journal |last=Wunsch |first=Carl |title=What Is the Thermohaline Circulation? |journal=Science |date=November 8, 2002 |pages=1179–1181 |doi=10.1126/science.1079329 |volume=298 |issue=5596 |url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/298/5596/1179 |pmid=12424356 |s2cid=129518576 }} (see also [http://www.pik-potsdam.de/~stefan/thc_fact_sheet.html Rahmstorf].) In 1958, oceanographer Henry Stommel noted, "very little water from the Gulf of Mexico is actually in the stream".Henry Stommel. (1958). The Gulf Stream: A Physical and Dynamical Description. Berkeley: University of California Press. p.22 The North Atlantic Current, in contrast, is largely driven by thermohaline circulation. Its carrying warm water northeast across the Atlantic makes Western Europe and especially Northern Europe warmer and milder than it otherwise would be.

The specific location of the Gulf Stream changes seasonally, being closer to the coast of North America in the summer and further away in the winter.{{Cite journal |last1=Sánchez-Román |first1=Antonio |last2=Gues |first2=Flora |last3=Bourdalle-Badie |first3=Romain |last4=Pujol |first4=Marie-Isabelle |last5=Pascual |first5=Ananda |last6=Drévillon |first6=Marie |date=2024-09-30 |title=Changes in the Gulf Stream path over the last 3 decades |url=https://sp.copernicus.org/articles/4-osr8/4/2024/ |journal=State of the Planet |language=English |volume=4-osr8 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.5194/sp-4-osr8-4-2024|doi-access=free }}

File:Gulfstream.jpg]]

A river of sea water, called the Atlantic North Equatorial Current, flows westwards off the coast of Central Africa. When this current interacts with the northeastern coast of South America, the current forks into two branches. One passes into the Caribbean Sea, while a second, the Antilles Current, flows north and east of the West Indies.{{cite web |author1=Elizabeth Rowe |author2=Arthur J. Mariano |author3=Edward H. Ryan |title=The Antilles Current |url=http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/antilles.html |publisher=Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies |access-date=2009-01-06}} These two branches rejoin north of the Straits of Florida.

The trade winds blow westwards in the tropics,{{cite web |author=Glossary of Meteorology |title=trade winds |work=Glossary of Meteorology |publisher=American Meteorological Society |year=2009 |access-date=2008-09-08 |url=http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=trade-winds1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211050708/http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=trade-winds1 |archive-date=2008-12-11 }} and the westerlies blow eastwards at mid-latitudes.Glossary of Meteorology (2009). [http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=westerlies1 Westerlies.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100622073904/http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=westerlies1 |date=2010-06-22 }} American Meteorological Society. Retrieved on 2009-04-15. This wind pattern applies a stress to the subtropical ocean surface with negative curl across the north Atlantic Ocean.Matthias Tomczak and J. Stuart Godfrey (2001). [http://www.es.flinders.edu.au/~mattom/regoc/pdffiles/colour/double/04P-Ekman-left.pdf Regional Oceanography: an Introduction.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914120630/http://www.es.flinders.edu.au/~mattom/regoc/pdffiles/colour/double/04P-Ekman-left.pdf |date=2009-09-14 }} Matthias Tomczak, pp. 42. {{ISBN|81-7035-306-8}}. Retrieved on 2009-05-06. The resulting Sverdrup transport is equatorward.Earthguide (2007). [http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/parkerprogram/berger/pdf/OcnBasLesson06.pdf Lesson 6: Unraveling the Gulf Stream Puzzle - On a Warm Current Running North.] University of California at San Diego. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.

Because of the conservation of potential vorticity caused by the northward-moving winds on the subtropical ridge's western periphery and the increased relative vorticity of northward-moving water, transport is balanced by a narrow, accelerating poleward current. This flows along the western boundary of the ocean basin, outweighing the effects of friction with the western boundary current, and is known as the Labrador Current.{{cite book|author=Angela Colling|title=Ocean Circulation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tFJRLhSez_YC&pg=PA96|year=2001|publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann|isbn=978-0-08-053794-8|page=96}} The conservation of potential vorticity also causes bends along the Gulf Stream, which occasionally break off as the Gulf Stream's position shifts, forming separate warm and cold eddies.{{cite book|author=Maurice L. Schwartz|title=Encyclopedia of Coastal Science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWnxpAxp6TMC&pg=PA1037|year=2006|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4020-3880-8|page=1037|bibcode=2006ecs..book.....S}} This overall process, known as western intensification, causes currents on the western boundary of an ocean basin, such as the Gulf Stream, to be stronger than those on the eastern boundary.National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (2009). [http://www.science-house.org/nesdis/gulf/background.html Investigating the Gulf Stream] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100503013457/http://www.science-house.org/nesdis/gulf/background.html |date=2010-05-03 }}. North Carolina State University. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.

As a consequence, the resulting Gulf Stream is a strong ocean current. It transports water at a rate of 30 million cubic metres per second (30 sverdrups) through the Florida Straits. As it passes south of Newfoundland, this rate increases to 150 sverdrups.{{cite web |author1=Joanna Gyory |author2=Arthur J. Mariano |author3=Edward H. Ryan |title=The Gulf Stream |url=http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/gulf-stream.html |publisher=Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies |access-date=2009-01-06}} The volume of the Gulf Stream dwarfs all rivers that empty into the Atlantic combined, which total 0.6 sverdrups. It is weaker, however, than the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.{{cite web |author1=Ryan Smith |author2=Melicie Desflots |author3=Sean White |author4=Arthur J. Mariano |author5=Edward H. Ryan |title=The Antarctic CP Current |url=http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/southern/antarctic-cp.html |publisher=Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies |access-date=2009-01-06}} Given the strength and proximity of the Gulf Stream, beaches along the East Coast of the United States may be more vulnerable to large sea-level anomalies, which significantly impact rates of coastal erosion.{{cite journal |last1=Theuerkauf |first1=Ethan J. |last2=Rodriguez |first2=Antonio B. |last3=Fegley |first3=Stephen R. |last4=Luettich |first4=Richard A. |title=Sea level anomalies exacerbate beach erosion |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |date=2014 |volume=41 |issue=14 |pages=5139–5147 |doi=10.1002/2014GL060544 |bibcode=2014GeoRL..41.5139T |s2cid=129869096 |doi-access=free }}

The Gulf Stream is typically {{convert|100|km|mi|abbr=on}} wide and {{convert|800|to|1200|m|ft|abbr=on}} deep. The current velocity is fastest near the surface, with the maximum speed typically about {{convert|2.5|m/s|mph|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |last=Phillips |first=Pamela |title=The Gulf Stream |url=http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/student/phillips/ |publisher=USNA/Johns Hopkins |access-date=2007-08-02 }} As it travels north, the warm water transported by the Gulf Stream undergoes evaporative cooling. The cooling is wind-driven; wind moving over the water causes evaporation, cooling the water and increasing its salinity and density. When sea ice forms, salts are left out of the ice, a process known as brine exclusion.{{cite web |last=Russel |first=Randy |title=Thermohaline Ocean Circulation |url=http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Water/thermohaline_ocean_circulation.html |publisher=University Corporation for Atmospheric Research |access-date=2009-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325062339/http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Water/thermohaline_ocean_circulation.html |archive-date=2009-03-25 |url-status=dead }} These two processes produce water that is denser and colder (or more precisely, water that is still liquid at a lower temperature). In the North Atlantic Ocean, the water becomes so dense that it begins to sink down through less salty and less dense water. (The convective action is similar to a lava lamp.) This downdraft of cold, dense water becomes a part of the North Atlantic Deep Water, a southgoing stream.{{cite web |last=Behl |first=R. |title=Atlantic Ocean water masses |url=http://seis.natsci.csulb.edu/rbehl/NADW.htm |publisher=California State University Long Beach |access-date=2009-01-06|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080523170145/http://seis.natsci.csulb.edu/rbehl/NADW.htm |archive-date = May 23, 2008|url-status=dead}} Very little seaweed lies within the current, although seaweed lies in clusters to its east.{{Cite book |author=Edward and George William Blunt |title=The American Coast Pilot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GoDAAAAYAAJ&q=Gulf+stream+climate+of+Nantucket+warmer&pg=RA1-PA38 |publisher=Edward and George William Blunt |access-date=2009-01-06 |year=1857}}

In April 2018, two studies published in the British scientific journal Nature {{cite journal |title=Anomalously weak Labrador Sea convection and Atlantic overturning during the past 150 years|date=11 April 2018|journal=Nature |volume=556|issue=7700|pages=227–230|doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0007-4|pmid=29643484|last1=Thornalley|first1=David J. R.|last2=Oppo|first2=Delia W.|author-link2=Delia Oppo|last3=Ortega|first3=Pablo|last4=Robson|first4=Jon I.|last5=Brierley|first5=Chris M.|last6=Davis|first6=Renee|last7=Hall|first7=Ian R.|last8=Moffa-Sanchez|first8=Paola|last9=Rose|first9=Neil L.|last10=Spooner|first10=Peter T.|last11=Yashayaev|first11=Igor|last12=Keigwin|first12=Lloyd D.|bibcode=2018Natur.556..227T|s2cid=4771341|url=http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/76608/1/Combined_accepted_text_figs_extended.pdf}}{{cite journal |title=Observed fingerprint of a weakening Atlantic Ocean overturning circulation|date=11 April 2018|journal=Nature |volume=556|issue=7700|pages=191–196|doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0006-5|pmid=29643485|last1=Caesar|first1=L.|last2=Rahmstorf|first2=S.|last3=Robinson|first3=A.|last4=Feulner|first4=G.|last5=Saba|first5=V.|bibcode=2018Natur.556..191C|s2cid=4781781|url=http://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/13174/1/CL-geography_observed.pdf}} found the Gulf Stream to be at its weakest for at least 1,600 years.{{cite web |title=Gulf Stream current at its weakest in 1,600 years, studies show |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/11/critical-gulf-stream-current-weakest-for-1600-years-research-finds |date=12 April 2018|work=The Guardian |access-date=12 April 2018 }}

The Gulf Stream is influential on the climate of the Florida peninsula. The portion off the Florida coast, referred to as the Florida Current, maintains an average water temperature of at least {{convert|24|C|F}} during the winter, and often {{convert|29|C|F}} in summer and fall.{{cite web|author=Geoff Samuels|title=Caribbean Mean SSTs and Winds|year=2008|publisher=Cooperative Institute For Marine and Atmospheric Studies|access-date=2009-01-16|url=http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/sfo/geoff/carib.html}} East winds moving over this warm water move warm air from over the Gulf Stream inland,National Climatic Data Center. [http://www5.ncdc.noaa.gov/documentlibrary/pdf/wind1996.pdf Climatic Wind Data for the United States.] Retrieved on 2007-06-02. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613090344/http://www5.ncdc.noaa.gov/documentlibrary/pdf/wind1996.pdf |date=June 13, 2007 }} helping to keep temperatures milder across the state than elsewhere across the Southeastern United States during the winter.

The Gulf Stream carries a wide variety of tropical fish and organisms northward along the East Coast from Florida to extreme southeast Massachusetts in spring and summer. Following the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, tropical fish are often encountered off the East Coast as they search for food, including several species of Batoidea, Dolphin, Barracuda, and Triggerfish. The Gulf Stream's proximity to Nantucket, Massachusetts, adds to its biodiversity, because it is the northern limit for southern varieties of plant life, and the southern limit for northern plant species, Nantucket being warmer during winter than the mainland in winter {{cite web|author= Sarah Oktay|title=Description of Nantucket Island |publisher=University of Massachusetts Boston |access-date=2009-01-06|url=http://www.umb.edu/nantucket}} just 30 miles to the north.{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Nantucket |title=Nantucket {{!}} island, Massachusetts, United States |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=5 September 2023}} North of Nantucket Island along the New England coast northward to the eastern Canadian coast the cold Labrador Current is found.

The North Atlantic Current of the Gulf Stream, along with similar warm air currents, helps keep Ireland and the western coast of Great Britain a few degrees warmer than the east.{{Cite book|author=Professor Hennessy|title=Report of the Annual Meeting: On the Influence of the Gulf-stream on the Climate of Ireland |year=1858 |publisher=Richard Taylor and William Francis |access-date=2009-01-06 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Les4AAAAMAAJ&q=ireland+is+warmed+by+the+Gulf+Stream&pg=RA1-PA132}} However, the difference is most dramatic in the western coastal islands of Scotland.{{cite web|title=Satellites Record Weakening North Atlantic Current Impact |publisher=NASA |access-date=2008-09-10 |url=http://oceanmotion.org/html/impact/climate-variability.htm}}{{Failed verification|date=January 2024}} A noticeable effect of the Gulf Stream and the strong westerly winds on Europe occurs along the Norwegian coast.{{cite web |author1=Barbie Bischof |author2=Arthur J. Mariano |author3=Edward H. Ryan |title=The North Atlantic Drift Current |year=2003 |publisher=The National Oceanographic Partnership Program |access-date=2008-09-10 |url=http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/north-atlantic-drift.html}} Northern parts of Norway lie close to the Arctic zone, most of which is covered with ice and snow in winter. However, almost all of Norway's coast remains free of ice and snow throughout the year.{{cite book|author1=Erik A. Rasmussen |author2=John Turner |title=Polar Lows|url=https://archive.org/details/polarlowsmesosca00rasm |url-access=limited |year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/polarlowsmesosca00rasm/page/n79 68]|isbn=9780521624305 }} The warming effect provided by the Gulf Stream has allowed fairly large settlements to be developed and maintained on the coast of Northern Norway, including Tromsø, the third-largest city north of the Arctic Circle. Weather systems warmed by the Gulf Stream drift into Northern Europe, also warming the climate behind the Scandinavian Mountains.

{{see also|Tipping points in the climate system#Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)}}

The possibility of a Gulf Stream collapse has been covered by some news publications.{{Cite web |date=2021-08-05 |title=Climate crisis: Scientists spot warning signs of Gulf Stream collapse |url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/05/climate-crisis-scientists-spot-warning-signs-of-gulf-stream-collapse |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}{{Cite web |author1=Ben Turner |date=2021-08-06 |title=Gulf Stream could be veering toward irreversible collapse, a new analysis warns |url=https://www.livescience.com/gulf-stream-close-to-collapse |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=livescience.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |author=Angela Dewan |title=A crucial ocean circulation is showing signs of instability. Its shutdown would have serious impacts on our weather. |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/06/world/climate-gulf-stream-collapse-warning-study-intl/index.html |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=CNN|date=6 August 2021 }}{{Cite news |last=Murphy |first=Heather |date=2021-08-05 |title=A Crucial System of Ocean Currents Is Faltering, Research Suggests |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/05/us/gulf-stream-collapse.html |access-date=2022-05-23 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |title=A major Atlantic current is at a critical transition point |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/amoc-shutdown-gulf-stream-climate/ |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=www.pbs.org |date=17 February 2022 |language=en-US}} The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report addressed this issue specifically, and found that based on model projections and theoretical understanding, the Gulf Stream will not shut down in a warming climate.{{Cite journal |last1=Fox-Kemper |first1=B. |last2=Hewitt |first2=H.T.|author2-link=Helene Hewitt |last3=Xiao |first3=C. |last4=Aðalgeirsdóttir |first4=G. |last5=Drijfhout |first5=S.S. |last6=Edwards |first6=T.L. |last7=Golledge |first7=N.R. |last8=Hemer |first8=M. |last9=Kopp |first9=R.E. |last10=Krinner |first10=G. |last11=Mix |first11=A. |date=2021 |editor-last=Masson-Delmotte |editor-first=V. |editor2-last=Zhai |editor2-first=P. |editor3-last=Pirani |editor3-first=A. |editor4-last=Connors |editor4-first=S.L. |editor5-last=Péan |editor5-first=C. |editor6-last=Berger |editor6-first=S. |editor7-last=Caud |editor7-first=N. |editor8-last=Chen |editor8-first=Y. |editor9-last=Goldfarb |editor9-first=L. |title=Ocean, Cryosphere and Sea Level Change |journal=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |volume=2021 |publisher=Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA |pages=1321 |doi=10.1017/9781009157896.011|bibcode= |isbn=9781009157896 |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter09.pdf}} While the Gulf Stream is expected to slow down as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) weakens, it will not collapse, even if the AMOC were to collapse. Nevertheless, this slowing down will have significant effects, including a rise in sea level along the North American coast, reduced precipitation in the midlatitudes, changing patterns of strong precipitation around Europe and the tropics, and stronger storms in the North Atlantic.

File:Sandy 2012-10-28 1600Z.jpg intensified as it tracked northward along the axis of the Gulf Stream in 2012]]

The warm water and temperature contrast along the edge of the Gulf Stream often increase the intensity of cyclones, tropical or otherwise. Tropical cyclone generation normally requires water temperatures in excess of {{convert|26.5|C|F}}.{{cite web | author = Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Hurricane Research Division | title = Frequently Asked Questions: How do tropical cyclones form? | publisher = NOAA | access-date = 2006-07-26 | url = http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/A15.html}} Tropical cyclone formation is common over the Gulf Stream, especially in July. Storms travel westward through the Caribbean and then either move in a northward direction and curve towards the eastern coast of the United States or stay on a north-westward track and enter the Gulf of Mexico.{{Atlantic hurricane best track}} Such storms have the potential to create strong winds and extensive damage to the United States' Southeast coastal areas. Hurricane Sandy in 2012 was a recent example of a hurricane tracking along the Gulf Stream and gaining strength.{{Cite web |last=US Department of Commerce |first=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |title=The Making of a Super Storm |url=https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/makingofasuperstorm/ |access-date=2025-02-03 |website=oceantoday.noaa.gov |language=EN-US}}

Strong extratropical cyclones have been shown to deepen significantly along a shallow frontal zone, forced by the Gulf Stream, during the cold season.{{Cite journal |last=Businger |first=S. |last2=Graziano |first2=T. M. |last3=Kaplan |first3=M. L. |last4=Rozumalski |first4=R. A. |date=2005-03-01 |title=Cold-air cyclogenesis along the Gulf-Stream front: investigation of diabatic impacts on cyclone development, frontal structure, and track |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00703-003-0050-y |journal=Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics |language=en |volume=88 |issue=1 |pages=65–90 |doi=10.1007/s00703-003-0050-y |issn=1436-5065}} Subtropical cyclones also tend to be generated near the Gulf Stream. About 75% of such systems documented between 1951 and 2000 formed near this warm-water current, with two annual peaks of activity occurring during May and October.David M. Roth. [http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/37402.pdf P 1.43 A FIFTY YEAR HISTORY OF SUBTROPICAL CYCLONES.] American Meteorological Society. Retrieved on 2008-09-21. Cyclones within the ocean itself form under the Gulf Stream, extending as deep as {{convert|3500|m|ft|abbr=on}} beneath the ocean's surface.D. K. Savidge and J. M. Bane. [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1914578 Cyclogenesis in the deep ocean beneath the Gulf Stream. 1. Description.] Retrieved on 2008-09-21.

{{hatnote|See main article: Cold Core Ring, Warm Core Ring}}

The Gulf Stream periodically forms rings resulting from a meander of the Gulf Stream being closed off from an alternate route distinctive from that meander, creating an independent eddy. These eddies have two types - cold-core rings, which rotate cyclonically (counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere), and warm-core rings, which rotate anticyclonically. These rings have the capacity to transport the distinct biological, chemical, and physical properties of their originating waters to the new waters into which they travel.

{{Portal|Oceans|Tropical cyclones|Weather}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• Arctic dipole anomaly
• Boundary current
• Humboldt Current
• Latitude of the Gulf Stream and the Gulf Stream north wall index
• North Atlantic oscillation
• Atlantic meridional overturning circulation

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist|2}}

{{Refbegin}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20041014034757/http://www.corona-magazine.de/archiv/corona124.html#wissenschaft Corona Magazine Issue 124: Science] (German, Transported amount of power)
• {{cite journal |author=Hátún |title=Influence of the Atlantic Subpolar Gyre on the Thermohaline Circulation |journal=Science |date=September 16, 2005 |volume=309 |issue=5742 |pages=1841–1844 |url=http://www.nersc.no/%7Ehelge/Science/ |doi=10.1126/science.1114777 |access-date=2007-08-02 |pmid=16166513 |last2=Sandø |first2=AB |last3=Drange |first3=H |last4=Hansen |first4=B |last5=Valdimarsson |first5=H |bibcode = 2005Sci...309.1841H |s2cid=38690976 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806064718/http://www.nersc.no/~helge/Science/ |archive-date=2007-08-06 |display-authors=etal}} (Increased temperature and salinity in the Nordic Seas.)

{{Refend}}

{{Commons category|Gulf Stream}}

• [https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/ocean/surface/currents/orthographic=-64.00,37.00/loc=-64.00,37.00 Current map of the Gulf Stream]

{{Ocean}}

{{Physical oceanography}}

{{Benjamin Franklin}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Currents of the Atlantic Ocean

Category:Effects of climate change

Category:Regional climate effects