Underwater instruments measuring the temperature and salinity of seawater will detect any change to currents that regulate Europe's climate, they said.
A UK-led team of researchers said the data offered the most detailed picture of the ocean's circulation patterns.
The first set of results were presented at a climate conference in Birmingham.
The array of 19 "moorings" is positioned at points 26.5 degrees north in the Atlantic Ocean, providing an insight to the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) that acts as the Earth's "heat pump", distributing heat via the ocean from the equator to northern regions.
By the time it reaches the northern latitudes around Greenland and Iceland, the water has cooled so much that it sinks towards the ocean's floor and heads south again, a process known as "overturning".
The process is density driven, so is sensitive to changes in the temperature and salinity of the water.
Computer climate models predict that the overturning may weaken or switch off altogether as freshwater from melting ice sheets flow into the sea...
"The ice core records suggest sudden warming or cooling happen on a scale of about a decade. The timescale for temperature change, which are in the order of 5-10C (9-18F), also happen in about a 10-year period," he explained.
This article states that the Gulfstream came to a halt for 10 days in 2004:Sea change: why global warming could leave Britain feeling the cold
See also (from the Guardian): Gulf Stream Interactive
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