Estimates of the transport of trace metals from the ocean to the atmosphere

Abstract

The Bubble Interfacial Microlayer Sampler (BIMS) was used in the North Atlantic to determine the enrichment factors, relative to sodium and the ocean (EFsea), for a series of trace metals on bubble‐derived atmospheric sea salt particles. No enrichment was found for K and Mg within the analytical precision of ±10%. Mean EFsea values determined for Al, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, V, and Zn ranged from 10 to 20,000. Positive correlations were found between bubble generation depth and the EFsea values for Fe, Pb, Sc, and Zn. Estimates suggest that the ocean is the primary global source of atmospheric K and Mg, that it is potentially a nontrivial (5–20% of the total) source of atmospheric Cu, V, and possibly Zn, and that it is an insignificant source of Al, Co, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Sc. In the remote North Pacific, during certain periods of the year, the ocean may be the primary source for all these elements present on aerosol particles with diameters greater than ∼3 μm.