Gulf Stream
a well-defined current in the Atlantic Ocean. As all ocean currents are so continuous as to be really but one current connected at the two ends, so that the movement of one part is the movement of all, the Gulf stream cannot strictly be said to begin anywhere.
It is due to the reflux of the equatorial current. The condensation and superheating of the last-named current takes place mainly in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, whence arises the name Gulf stream. Its temperature there is about 50°. It emerges as a defined hot current through the Straits of Florida, and courses in a N. E. direction at a little distance from the coast of the United States, so affecting the Bermudas as to make their climate semi-tropical.
Between these islands and Halifax the Gulf stream is about 60 miles broad, 100 fathoms deep, and moves at the rate of 3 knots an hour. It is of a deep blue color, in marked contrast to the dull green of the Arctic reflux. The Gulf stream moves in a N. E. direction toward Europe. It is generally believed to be through its influence that the W. coast of the European continent is so much milder than the corresponding latitudes of America.