Gulf Stream meanders along the Continental Margin from the Florida Straits to Cape Hatteras

A rapid increase in the magnitude of Gulf Stream meanders downstream of a seaward deflection of the Stream off Charleston, South Carolina, has been indicated by an analysis of the shoreward surface thermal front of the Stream. The sixty four cases examined show that lateral movements of the Stream from Charleston to Cape Hatteras may be as great as 40 km from the mean, whereas upstream of Charleston the movements are generally less than 15 km in amplitude. This difference points to the importance of the deflection of the Stream by a bottom feature off Charleston in producing Gulf Stream meanders.