Atmospheric deposition of methanol over the Atlantic Ocean

Yang, M, Nightingale, PD, Beale, R, Liss, PS, Blomquist, BW and Fairall, CW 2013 Atmospheric deposition of methanol over the Atlantic Ocean. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110 (50). 20034-20039. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1317840110

[img]
Preview
Text
20034.full.pdf - Published Version
Available under License All Rights Reserved.

Download (1MB) | Preview
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1317840110

Abstract/Summary

In the troposphere, methanol (CH3OH) is present ubiquitously and second in abundance among organic gases after methane. In the surface ocean, methanol represents a supply of energy and carbon for marine microbes. Here we report direct measurements of air-sea methanol transfer along a similar to 10,000-km north-south transect of the Atlantic. The flux of methanol was consistently from the atmosphere to the ocean. Constrained by the aerodynamic limit and measured rate of air-sea sensible heat exchange, methanol transfer resembles a one-way depositional process, which suggests dissolved methanol concentrations near the water surface that are lower than what were measured at similar to 5 m depth, for reasons currently unknown. We estimate the global oceanic uptake of methanol and examine the lifetimes of this compound in the lower atmosphere and upper ocean with respect to gas exchange. We also constrain the molecular diffusional resistance above the ocean surface-an important term for improving air-sea gas exchange models.

Item Type: Publication - Article
Subjects: Chemistry
Ecology and Environment
Marine Sciences
Divisions: Plymouth Marine Laboratory > Science Areas > Cycling in the Sunlit Ocean (expired)
Depositing User: Mrs Julia Crocker
Date made live: 03 Mar 2014 12:27
Last Modified: 25 Apr 2020 09:56
URI: https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/5589

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item