Characteristics of water-soluble inorganic and organic ions in aerosols over the Southern Ocean and coastal East Antarctica during austral summer

Guojie Xu, Yuan Gao, Qi Lin, Wei Li, Liqi Chen

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56 Scopus citations

Abstract

To characterize the concentrations and size distributions of water-soluble organic and inorganic aerosol species, including Na+, non-sea-salt sulfate (nss SO42-), methane sulfonate (MSA), oxalate, and succinate, over the Southern Ocean (SO) and coastal East Antarctica (CEA), bulk and size-segregated aerosols were collected from 40°S, 100°E to 69°S, 76°E and between 69°S, 76°E and 66°S, 110°E during a cruise from November 2010 to March 2011. Results show that sea salt was the major component of the total aerosol mass, accounting for 72% over the SO and 56% over CEA. The average concentrations of nss SO42- varied from 420 ng m-3 over the SO to 480 ng m-3 over CEA. The concentrations of MSA ranged from 63 to 87 ng m-3 over the SO and from 46 to 170 ng m-3 in CEA. The average concentrations of oxalate were 3.8 ng m-3 over the SO and 2.2 ng m-3 over CEA. The concentrations of formate, acetate, and succinate were lower than those of oxalate. A bimodal size distribution of aerosol mass existed over CEA, peaking at 0.32-0.56 μm and 3.2-5.6 μm. MSA was accumulated in particles of 0.32-0.56 μm over CEA. High chloride depletion was associated with fine-mode particles enriched with nss SO42-, MSA, and oxalate. Higher cation-to-anion and NH4+/nss SO 42- ratios in aerosols over CEA compared to that over the SO imply the higher neutralization capacity of the marine atmosphere over CEA. Key Points High MSA/nss SO42- over coastal Antarctica affected by high MSA concentration Organic aerosol species were enriched in fine-mode particles Nss SO42- MSA, oxalate, and formate in fine mode caused high Cl depletion

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)13,303-13,318
JournalJournal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
Volume118
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 16 2013

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Geophysics
  • Forestry
  • Oceanography
  • Aquatic Science
  • Ecology
  • Water Science and Technology
  • Soil Science
  • Geochemistry and Petrology
  • Earth-Surface Processes
  • Atmospheric Science
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Space and Planetary Science
  • Palaeontology

Keywords

  • Southern Ocean
  • aerosol size distribution
  • coastal Antarctica
  • inorganic and organic ions
  • water-soluble aerosols

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