The Gulf of Mexico covers a surface area of 579,153 sq miles (1.5 million sq km), and is measured 994 miles (1,600 km) west to east, and 559 miles (900 km) north to south.
After travelling from the aorta, blood travels through peripheral arteries into smaller arteries called arterioles, and eventually to capillaries. Arterioles help in regulating blood pressure by the variable contraction of the smooth muscle of their walls, and deliver blood to the capillaries.
Blood Vessel Structure and Function-. A. Overview- Great arteries leave the heart, branch to smaller and. smaller arteries which lead to capillaries. Capillaries allow exchange of. materials at tissues. Capillaries merge and lead to tiny venules, which. merge to larger and larger veins until they finally dump back into the. heart, via the huge inferior and superior vena cava.