Gulf Stream

A surface ocean current of warm water, relatively narrow and fast, that flows through the North Atlantic. It displaces a large quantity of water, with an estimated flow of 80 million cubic meters per second, and a speed of 2 m/s (about 7 km/h). It originates in the Straits of Florida and flows - in its initial stretch - parallel to the east coast of the USA, before beginning to head out into the Atlantic Ocean from Cape Hatteras, in North Carolina, toward Europe. At approximately 40ºN and 40ºW it splits into several branches (currents of lesser magnitude), on interacting with the cold Labrador Current. The Gulf Stream exerts a marked influence on the climate of the Atlantic facade of the European continent, due to its warming effect.