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.
How does the structure of arteries and veins relate to their functions? Arteries - transports oxygenated blood from the heart (except in pulmonary artery which contains deoxygenated blood). Arteries have: -thick muscular wall. -much elastic tissue. -small lumen relative to diameter. -not permeable. -valves in pulmonary artery and Aorta only. -blood under high pressure (10-16kPa)