Abstract
Abstract. Biogenic influences on the composition and characteristics of aerosol were investigated on Bird Island (54°00' S, 38°03' W) in the South Atlantic during November and December 2010. This remote marine environment is characterised by large seabird and seal colonies. The chemical composition of the submicron particles, measured by an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS), was 21% non-sea-salt sulfate, 2% nitrate, 8% ammonium, 22% organics and 47% sea salt including sea salt sulfate. A new method to isolate the sea spray signature from the high-resolution AMS data was applied. Generally, the aerosol was found to be less acidic than in other marine environments due to the high availability of ammonia, from local fauna emissions. By positive matrix factorisation five different organic aerosol (OA) profiles could be isolated: an amino acid/amine factor (AA-OA, 18% of OA mass), a methanesulfonic acid OA factor (MSA-OA, 25%), a marine oxygenated OA factor (M-OOA, 41%), a sea spray OA fraction (SS-OA, 7%) and locally produced hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA, 9%). The AA-OA was dominant during the first two weeks of November and found to be related with the hatching of penguins in a nearby colony. This factor, rich in nitrogen (N : C ratio = 0.13), has implications for the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen in the area as particulate matter is often transported over longer distances than gaseous N-rich compounds. The MSA-OA was mainly transported from more southerly latitudes where phytoplankton bloomed. The bloom was identified as one of three sources for particulate sulfate on Bird Island, next to sea salt sulfate and sulfate transported from South America. M-OOA was the dominant organic factor and found to be similar to marine OA observed at Mace Head, Ireland. An additional OA factor highly correlated with sea spray aerosol was identified (SS-OA). However, based on the available data the type of mixture, internal or external, could not be determined. Potassium was not associated with sea salt particles during 19% of the time, indicating the presence of biogenic particles in addition to the MSA-OA and AA-OA factors.
Highlights
Hydrology andThe marine environment aerosol sources (RinaldiEreetparaerls.t,ehn2t0sS1o0yn)es, otdefritvmheenlabrygetshtenaetmurias-l sion of 133 Tg yr−1 submicronSpacrtiiecunlacteemsatter from sea spray, including primary and secondary organic matter and sea salt (Vignati et al, 2010; Gantt et al., 2011)
In this paper we report measurements of the chemical and microphysical characteristics of remote marine aerosol on Bird Island, to the west of South Georgia, a remote oceanic archipelago south of the Antarctic Polar Front in the South Atlantic Ocean, and assess the influence of emissions from local fauna compared with regional sources
This study reports the first stationary deployment of an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) to a field site in the subAntarctic and presents a detailed characterisation of the particulate composition and size distribution for eight weeks during the Antarctic summer, from November to December 2010
Summary
Ereetparaerls.t,ehn2t0sS1o0yn)es, otdefritvmheenlabrygetshtenaetmurias-l sion of 133 Tg yr−1 submicronSpacrtiiecunlacteemsatter from sea spray, including primary and secondary organic matter (together 13 %) and sea salt (Vignati et al, 2010; Gantt et al., 2011). Marine aerosol systems are important as they exert a spirgonviifisicoanntoifnflauelanrcgeeonnOutmhcebeeEraarontfh’cSslrocaudideiactniovcnedebeanlsaantcioenthnrouucglehi Meskhidze et al, 2011). Marine particulate matter plays a substantial role in biogeochemical cycling of chemical elements and nutrients Numerous recent studies have been conducted to investigate the role of mariSneoolrigdanEic aaerrtohsol for these important functions. They have focused on the characterisation and quantification of primary and secondary marine organic
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