Interested in the production, fate, and radiocarbon (14C) signatures of primary marine aerosol (PMA)? Attending the 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting in beautiful Portland, Oregon? Then come to room B113-B115 of the Oregon Convention Center at 3:24 pm on Thursday, Feb 15 to hear our colleague, the inestimable Dr. David Kieber, reveal the state of the science and results from our team’s 2016 North Atlantic cruise. The abstract (AI43A-08) and plain language summary are included below to whet your appetite.
AI43A-08. Primary Marine Aerosol Production and Refractory Marine Organic Matter Cycling: Interactions Among Bubbles, Marine Organic Matter, and the Sea Surface Microlayer
David J Kieber, Steven R Beaupre, William C Keene, Michael S Long, Amanda Ann Frossard, Joanna D Kinsey, Patrick Duplessis, John R Maben, Xi Lu, Rachel Chang, Yuting Zhu, and John Bisgrove
Abstract
Oceanographers and atmospheric scientists are quite interested in primary marine aerosol (PMA) production and processing from multiple perspectives ranging from atmospheric chemistry, cloud physics, and Earth’s radiation balance to the oceanic carbon budget. Despite the recognized importance of PMA in the ocean-atmosphere system and decades of research, fundamental aspects of production, composition, and evolution remain highly uncertain and subject to controversy. Some of these uncertainties and controversies stem from long-held assumptions and others from inadequate knowledge of multiphase physics coupled with inherent limitations in generating and observing PMA. For example, it is widely assumed that marine organic matter (OM) associated with PMA is derived primarily from recent biological activity in the photic zone, that bubble size spectra control corresponding PMA size spectra, and that the sea-surface microlayer is the major source of OM in PMA. This presentation will highlight important uncertainties and recent findings regarding PMA generation, composition, and evolution obtained for PMA produced in a high capacity generator at two biologically-productive and two oligotrophic hydrographic stations in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean during a research cruise aboard the R/V Endeavor (Sep – Oct 2016).
Summary
When waves break and bubbles burst at the ocean’s surface, they inject particles into the atmosphere that contain sea salt and organic matter. Oceanographers and atmospheric scientists are quite interested in how these particles (aerosols) affect cloud physics, climate, and the chemistry of the atmosphere and oceans. Despite their expected importance, there are large uncertainties regarding fundamental aspects of production, composition, and evolution of these aerosols. This presentation will highlight important uncertainties and recent findings regarding marine aerosols produced at sea during a research cruise in the Northwestern Atlantic Ocean in the fall 2016.