Workshop on the Study of Arctic Change in Ocean Circulation

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ABSTRACT OPP-9712315 MORISON, JAMES UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON The investigators will conduct a workshop on the future research needs required to monitor a change in oceanic circulation observed on the 1994 Arctic Ocean Section joint US and Canadian traverse of the Arctic Ocean. The participants will design a long-term research program that will provide information about the extent of warm water spreading into the Arctic Ocean that had not been observed prior to 1994. The continued monitoring of the new circulation pattern will allow assessment of the causes for the shift to an Atlantic-dominated pattern from a Pacific-dominated circulation pattern. At present it is impossible to determine if the observed change is cyclic or a permanent change in response to global warming. The research program designed as a result of the workshop will provide the long-term dataset necessary to assess the possible global change impact on the Arctic Ocean. If shown to have a global change driving force, the impacts of the new circulation pattern will have major implications for global circulation and the permanence of the Arctic Ocean ice pack.