Colding on the Laws of Currents in Ordinary Conduits and in the Sea

Abstract

III.LET us now direct our attention to the polar currents, and especially to that one which from Spitzbergen proceeds to the south-west along the coast of Greenland as far as Cape Farewell. It will be seen that this current has received an impulse from the force of rotation, and rises about one foot towards the west coast of Greenland, an effect which however ceases as soon as it has passed the southern point of that country. As soon as the resistance which compelled the current to follow the line of the coast in proceeding to the south-west disappears, it can no longer continue in the same course, but takes a westerly direction towards Labrador, partly in consequence of the rotation of the earth, partly because the level of the current is then higher than that of the waters of Davis Strait. After having advanced a little into the strait, the polar current encounters the currents coming from the north by Baffin's Bay, and joins them in their progress to the south-east along the coast of Labrador, towards which it slopes in virtue of the rotation of the earth. During this passage, aud until its arrival in the neighbourhood of Newfoundland, this current is stemmed by the force of rotation, and ought, consequently, to present a slope all along Davis Strait and the east coast of Newfoundland as far as the Gulf Stream. During its course southwards along this course, the polar current is elevated towards the land by the earth's rotation; but as soon as it has passed Cape Race, this resistance suddenly disappears, and the same phenomenon is reproduced as at Cape Farewell. The current bends suddenly to the south-west, and follows the coast as far as Florida, while its breadth and the volume of its water continue to diminish.