Methyl and ethyl nitrate saturation anomalies in the Southern Ocean (3665oS, 3070oW)

Hughes, Claire, Chuck, Adele L., Turner, Suzanne M. and Liss, Peter S. (2008) Methyl and ethyl nitrate saturation anomalies in the Southern Ocean (3665oS, 3070oW). Environmental Chemistry, 5 (1). pp. 11-15.

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Abstract

We report the first coupled atmosphere and seawater alkyl nitrate measurements for the Southern Ocean in the area bounded by 36–65°S, 30–70°W (November/December, 2004). Methyl and ethyl nitrate concentrations in seawater were 3.1–194.9 and 0.3–71.8 pmol L–1, respectively. Atmospheric mixing ratios ranged from 1.0 to 71.5 ppt for methyl nitrate and 0.6 to 16.6 ppt for ethyl nitrate. No correlations between alkyl nitrate distributions, and sea surface temperature, windspeed or chlorophyll a were observed. However, methyl and ethyl nitrate were well correlated in both the air and seawater, which suggests a common source. Calculations based on these observations estimate median saturation anomalies of –40% (–95 to 220%) for methyl nitrate and –11% (–98 to 174%) for ethyl nitrate. Positive saturation anomalies were spatially patchy, which suggests that some methyl and ethyl nitrate production was taking place in isolated areas of the study region. Overall our negative median saturation anomaly values suggest that during late austral spring (2004) the region of the Southern Ocean in which our measurements were made was not a net source of methyl or ethyl nitrate to the atmosphere. These results reinforce previous findings which suggest that whilst the equatorial ocean is a major source of methyl and ethyl nitrates to the atmosphere, higher latitude waters are generally at equilibrium or under-saturated. More measurements are required to assess how representative our results are of other areas of the Southern Ocean.

Item Type: Article
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Climatic Research Unit
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (former - to 2017)
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Climate, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (former - to 2017)
Depositing User: Rosie Cullington
Date Deposited: 25 Feb 2011 11:53
Last Modified: 15 Jun 2023 23:57
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/24847
DOI: 10.1071/EN07083

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