Pickart consulted WHOI colleague Michael Spall, who specializes in using numerical models of
ocean circulation.
Dr David Thornalley, of Cardiff School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, said: "These insights highlight just how dynamic and sensitive
ocean circulation can be.
Scientists say the shearing off of the ice tongue and the presence of the Mertz and B-9B icebergs could affect global
ocean circulation.
It also allows scientists to map the Earth's radiation budget to assess its impacts on climate and weather, and to assess Earth's gravity field to evaluate its role in
ocean circulation and climate.
So by gathering this data from around the world, scientists can trace
ocean circulation patterns.
This can alter
ocean circulation patterns because of the density difference between fresh and salt water.
But this is natural, due to
ocean circulation changes and other factors.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour, together with changes in
ocean circulation and productivity, all produce positive feedbacks to small changes in climate induced by Milankovitch changes in radiative forcing.
In 1999 it was lowered a staggering 3,500 metres into the depths of the Southern Ocean where it remained for a world record four years monitoring the pressure and changing
ocean circulation around Antarctica.
If that wasn't enough to worry about, there's the matter of all that ice melting away in the Arctic and Antarctic, which has the potential to slow, rearrange or even stop current
ocean circulation patterns, with potentially profound effects for life on Earth, above and below the waves.
It then flows south from the European side of the Atlantic, crosses the equator, joins another
ocean circulation, and eventually reaches the Pacific, a trip that lasts 1,000 years.
This movie begins, or nearly so, with paleoclimatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) briefing scientists and politicians on how changes in
ocean circulation resulting from melting ice sheets can cause rapid climate change.
