Heterophase Processes in the Formation of Antarctica's Spring Ozone Anomaly

Abstract

A study demonstrates that accepted official values of the catalytic cycle with the participation of ClO in ozone destruction during the spring ozone anomaly in Antarctica (SOAA) usually is not adequately validated or confirmed by observational data. The strong inverse correlation between the mixing ratios for ozone and ClO observed during the SOAA period evidently can be attributed to the heterophase reactions of direct destruction of molecules of both chlorine nitrate and ozone on particle surfaces in polar stratospheric clouds. An increase in ClO concentration and decrease in ozone concentration during an SOAA period may be the result of a single factor causing temperature changes, and thus changes in the quantitative and qualitative parameters of polar stratospheric clouds.