On the dynamical structure of the Gulf Stream as an equivalent-barotropic flow

Abstract

Some of the main features of the Gulf Stream and its horizontal velocity profile can be accounted for by treating the stream as a nonaccelerated, equivalent-barotropic flow, determined by pressure, Coriolis, and frictional forces. An essential part of the model is an inclined lower boundary of the Stream in which the depth increases with distance from the coast to the Sargasso Sea. Horizontal profiles of the average velocity for vertical columns of water in the Gulf Stream are computed for different assumptions about the form of the internal friction. They verify a sharply peaked distribution of velocity across the Stream and an asymmetrical horizontal shear. The cyclonic shear region near the coast is stronger than the anticyclonic shear region toward the Sargasso Sea.