The research of James Croll on the nature of Ice Ages led him into a detailed investigation of ocean currents. By the early 1870s he had calculated from first principles the quantities of heat delivered by ocean currents to high latitude areas and he understood how this heat supply may have altered drastically during ice ages. The publication of his many papers on ocean currents as well as his book, Climate and Time, coincided with Challenger expedition that, in 1872, embarked on a 4-year voyage of scientific exploration of the world's oceans. The expedition was crucially important for Croll since it enabled him to test his theories of ocean circulation using real data. His novel theories of ocean circulation based on this information conflicted with the established views popularly advocated by William Carpenter but they ultimately prevailed. In the many writings of Croll on ocean currents, we encounter, as with other areas of his research, numerous remarkable ideas many decades ahead their time.

中文翻译：

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詹姆斯·克罗尔的海洋学贡献

詹姆斯·克罗尔对冰河时代性质的研究使他对洋流进行了详细调查。到 1870 年代初，他已经根据第一原理计算了洋流向高纬度地区传递的热量，并且他了解这种热量供应在冰河时代可能发生了怎样的剧烈变化。他发表了许多关于洋流的论文以及他的著作，气候和时间, 恰逢挑战者这支探险队于 1872 年开始了为期 4 年的世界海洋科学探索航程。这次探险对克罗尔来说至关重要，因为它使他能够使用真实数据来检验他的海洋环流理论。他基于这些信息的新海洋环流理论与威廉·卡彭特（William Carpenter）普遍倡导的既定观点相冲突，但最终占了上风。在克罗尔关于洋流的许多著作中，与他的其他研究领域一样，我们遇到了许多比他们的时代早了几十年的非凡想法。