After the Gulf Stream curves out to the east off the GRAND BANKS of Newfoundland, it widens and slows down. Here it is called the North Atlantic drift. It crosses the Atlantic and sends off numerous branches of warmer water into the Arctic.
According to recent theory the warmer waters of the North Atlantic drift cause heavy snows which build the mighty polar ice cap. After centuries of accumulating polar ice, the sea level drops so that the currents can no longer penetrate the Arctic. The snows stop and the cap slowly melts, and thus the sea returns to its former level. The cycle is then repeated.
