Chloromethane and dichloromethane in the tropical Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

Chloromethane and dichloromethane were measured in the air of marine environment and in seawater during a cruise from the Port of Spain to Rio de Janeiro in the tropical Atlantic Ocean in April and May of 2009. Variation of chloromethane and dichloromethane concentrations was analysed as a function of latitude. There is no correlation observed between chloromethane and dichloromethane concentrations in the seawater suggest that they may not have a common oceanic source. In addition, a relation of concentrations, fluxes and sea surface temperature were studied to determine a dependency of concentrations and fluxes on sea surface temperature. Sea surface temperature does not show any significant effect on dichloromethane concentrations in surface seawater. Chloromethane and dichloromethane are supersaturated in the seawater during the cruise. This implies that the tropical Atlantic Ocean emits chloromethane and dichloromethane into the atmosphere. The tropical Atlantic Ocean mean fluxes of chloromethane and dichloromethane during the cruise were 150 nmol m−2 d−1 and 81 nmol m−2 d−1, respectively. The backward trajectory analysis revealed that the tropical Atlantic Ocean and African coast were primary and secondary source regions for chloromethane and dichloromethane respectively, during the Meteor cruise.