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Why do you think your
paper is highly cited?
Southern Ocean research is a very active field, and this paper
represents a step forward for the Geosciences community.
Does it describe a new discovery or a new methodology that’s
useful to others?
No, really it draws attention to recent developments in
related fields, and points out the implications for Geosciences.
Could you summarize the significance of your paper in
layman’s terms?
There is a "classic" view of the Antarctic
Circumpolar Current (ACC) as a broad ocean current that isolated
Antarctica from heat absorbed by the earth at lower latitudes,
hence causing Antarctic glaciation. Modern physical
oceanography, particularly using satellites and numerical
modelling, show this to be false. No one knows when the ACC
started but there’s been much speculation. We need to find out
when it began, so as to understand what its role really was.
How did you become involved in this research and were there
successes or failures?
I’ve worked in the area south of South America for many
years, trying to understand how it evolved—mostly
successfully, as it’s hard for anyone to get there in order to
disprove my conclusions! That particular area is the main
candidate for the final barrier in the deep-water pathway that
the ACC would need, so understanding ACC onset is a natural step
along the way.
Are there any social or political implications of your
research?
Not really. Every time we move on in developing our
understanding of global climate—and determining ACC onset is
such a step—we improve our ability to predict the future
climate as well, but the field of geosciences works across a
timescale of millions of years, so lots of other things are
going to happen before the consequences of this sort of
understanding would become readily apparent.
I did work for the British Antarctic Survey and, although
still active in geosciences, I am now officially retired.
Peter F. Barker, D.Sc.
Threshers Barn
Whitcott Keysett, Clun
Shropshire, UK
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