Gulf Stream
Corriente del Golfo
- Date
- 1513 / 1770 · confidence high
- Place
- Florida Strait, United States
- Credited to
- Juan Ponce de León (1513, observation), Benjamin Franklin and Timothy Folger (1770, map)
- People
- 👤 Benjamin Franklin1706–1790👤 Juan Ponce de León👤 Timothy Folger1732–1814
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Ponce de León noticed a current so strong that his ships were pushed back; Franklin, using data from Nantucket whalers, published the first map of the Gulf Stream and measured its temperature, explaining why British mail packets took weeks longer.
Coordinates of the Florida Strait, where the current is strongest. It was known to Spanish sailors from the 16th century onward; Franklin mapped it scientifically.
What it led to
- Faster transatlantic routes
- Understanding of Western Europe's temperate climate
- The physical oceanography of currents
Built on
- Spanish treasure fleet route
- Whalers' observations
Made possible
- Maury's wind and current charts1847
- Thermohaline circulation and ocean conveyor belt1797 / 1961
- Ocean current charts
- Thermometer as a navigational instrument