Atlantic Ocean by three inter-connected currents: the Gulf Stream which flows north-east from the North American coast at Cape Hatteras; the North Atlantic Current, a branch of the Gulf Stream which flows northward from the Grand Banks; and the Subpolar Front, an extension of the North Atlantic Current, a wide, vaguely defined region separating the subtropical gyre from the subpolar gyre. This system of currents transport warm water into the North Atlantic, without which temperatures in the North Atlantic and Europe would plunge dramatically. North of the North Atlantic Gyre, the cyclonic North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre plays a key role in climate
North Atlantic Gyre warms. This is due to a weakening of the westerly winds, resulting in reduced wind stress and heat exchange, providing a greater period of time for the gyre water temperatures to rise. Collections of aerosols, marine particles, and ocean water in the North Atlantic Gyre from 1990-1992 have led to measurements in lead isotope ratios. These measurements exceed those associated with atmospheric pollution carried from Europe by the trade winds, implying that the majority of lead contamination in the gyre in the early 1990s was primarily caused by American emissions. The surface layers of the Sargasso Sea were used to