Increased oceanic dimethyl sulfide emissions in areas of sea ice retreat inferred from a Greenland ice core

Abstract

Ocean phytoplankton are an important source of dimethyl sulfide, which influences marine cloud formation. Model studies suggest that declines in Arctic sea ice may lead to increased dimethyl sulfide emissions, however observational support is lacking. Here, we present a 55-year high-resolution ice core record of methane sulfonic acid flux, an oxidation product of dimethyl sulfide, from the southeast Greenland Ice Sheet. We infer temporal variations in ocean dimethyl sulfide emissions and find that springtime (April–June) fluxes of methane sulfonic acid correlate well with satellite-derived chlorophyll-a concentration in the Irminger Sea. Summertime (July–September) methane sulfonic acid fluxes were 3 to 6 times higher between 2002–2014 than 1972–2001. We attribute this to sea ice retreat day becoming earlier and a coincident increase in chlorophyll-a concentration in the adjacent open coastal waters.