A test of the Parsons-Veronis hypothesis on the separation of the Gulf Stream

Abstract

Investigates the validity of the separation hypothesis introduced by Parsons (1969) and extended by Veronis (1973). A detailed exposition of the Parsons-Veronis hypothesis is presented, followed by a discussion of the datasets used for this study. A two-layer model of the North Atlantic at approximately 35°N is established and the selection of the free parameters for this model is discussed. The findings of this work and how they relate to the broader perspective of the Gulf Stream system and the wind-driven basin-wide circulation are dealt with in the final section. -from Authors