Dementia Wrote:

] Quick story:
] Get some scientists, throw them in a boat. Make them
] go out 500mi east of New England and dive to deep coral
] reefs to study ancient weather patterns. (+ fun pretty
] pictures and swimming robots)

] Detailed story:
] The hypothesis states that the cyclical (over many many
] years) movement of the deep North Atlantic causes dramatic
] weather changes affecting the entire planet. To test the
] theory coral in the north atlantic will be sampled to
] reconstuct past weather conditions.

] A fundemental problem in the understanding Earth's weather
] pattern is the movement of deep ocean currents. Specifically
] it seems (http://www.meteor.iastate.edu/gccourse/alumni/ocean/ocean.html)
] that the movement of warm north atlantic water down to the
] equator acts like a meteorilogical "engine" driving climate
] change. But very little is known about the "engine" part.

] The New England Seamount is a large ridge in the middle
] of the atlantic ocean. It rises steeply out of the sea
] floor and is direct line with these north atlantic ocean
] currents. By studying the composition of the coral rock
] scientists are able to backsolve and figure out what
] ancient weather was like.

This is the second time I have heard this theory now. I guess that means it is starting to gain some scientific footing.

DIVE AND DISCOVER: Expeditions to the Seafloor