Crandles,
Thanks for the explanation. It was really helpful.
I am sure many models incorporate the effects of the fresh water. However, one of the videos I posted shows significant increase in fresh water content of Arctic Ocean.
My question is that can inflow of fresh water prevent other factors from becoming dominant although fresh water itself is not dominant? I can be completely wrong, but consider this theory:
Before large influx of fresh water, sources that provided heat to melt ice included solar radiations wind, and water mixing (deeper layer, Atlantic, Pacific etc.). But lots of fresh water created an
independent or isolated pool of fresh water that melts or freezes
without interacting with broader Arctic climate/ocean system. Imagine a very large 'saucer' near Beaufort floating in Arctic Ocean.
In other words, now we have
two sub-systems in Arctic that are not interacting much. One sub-system composed of this pool, which is receiving heat only through sun and wind, but not much or at all from water mixing. Another sub-system, may be composed of bottom layer, which is receiving heat from mixing, but not enough from sun and wind. So, fresh water separated Arctic system in two smaller systems over period of years.
Before I think any further, I would like to see you thoughts over this crazy theory.
Btw,
I found this presentation. I could not entirely understand the findings. So, if you don't mind going through it, I would appreciate that.
http://www.whoi.edu/fileserver.do?id=169345&pt=2&p=180769