Abstract
The partial pressures of methyl halides (CH3X; X = Cl, Br, or I) and of CHClF2 (HCFC‐22), which are all volatile organic compounds (VOCs), were measured in the air of the marine boundary layer (pVOCair) and in surface seawater (pVOCwater) during a cruise from the subarctic to subtropical regions of the northwest Pacific in summer of 2008. In the northern transition water (TWN) with high biological activity, high levels of the three CH3Xs in surface seawater were frequently observed, probably owing to their enhanced production by phytoplankton. Supersaturation of CH3Br was only present in TWN water, with a saturation anomaly (SCH3Br) of 0.95 [SCH3X = (pCH3Xwater − pCH3Xair)/pCH3Xair]. The highest saturation anomalies for CH3Cl (SCH3Cl = 1.6) and CH3I (SCH3I = 91) were found in the southern subtropical water (STS) with low biological production south of the subtropical front. We found that the molar concentrations of CH3Cl (CCH3Cl) and CH3I (CCH3I) sharply increased with increasing sea surface temperature (SST) in the subtropical waters. The maximum CCH3Cl (144 pmol l−1) was present in STS water at SST = 30°C and is 1.5 times the value extrapolated from the previously reported relationship between CCH3Cl and SST. Photochemical production might have contributed to the production of CH3Cl and CH3I in STS water.
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