Simultaneous Detection of Alkylamines in the Surface Ocean and Atmosphere of the Antarctic Sympagic Environment

• Published in: ACS Earth and Space Chemistry
• Main Authors: Dall'Osto, Manuel, Airs, Ruth, Beale, Rachel, Cree, C., Fitzsimons, M., Beddows, D.C.S., Harrison, Roy M., O'Dowd, Colin D., Rinaldi, Matteo, Paglione, Marco, Nenes, Athanasios, Decesari, S., Simó, Rafel
• Other Authors: Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España), European Commission, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Chemical Society 2019
• Subjects: Polar ecology; Polar emissions; Southern Ocean; Secondary Aerosols; ATOFMS; Polar biogeochemistry; Marine aerosol; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/184851; https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.9b00028; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003329; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033

9 pages, supporting information https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.9b00028 Measurements of alkylamines from seawater and atmospheric samples collected simultaneously across the Antarctic Peninsula, South Orkney and South Georgia Islands are reported. Concentrations of mono-, di-, and trimethylamine (MMA, DMA, and TMA, respectively), and their precursors, the quarternary amines glycine betaine and choline, were enhanced in sympagic seawater samples relative to ice-devoid pelagic ones, suggesting the microbiota of sea ice and sea ice-influenced ocean is a major source of these compounds. Primary sea-spray aerosol particles artificially generated by bubbling seawater samples were investigated by aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ATOFMS) of single particles; their mixing state indicated that alkylamines were aerosolized with sea spray from dissolved and particulate organic nitrogen pools. Despite this unequivocal sea spray-associated source of alkylamines, ATOFMS analyses of ambient aerosols in the sympagic region indicated that the majority (75-89%) of aerosol alkylamines were of secondary origin, that is, incorporated into the aerosol after gaseous air-sea exchange. These findings show that sympagic seawater properties are a source of alkylamines influencing the biogenic aerosol fluxed from the ocean into the boundary layer; these organic nitrogen compounds should be considered when assessing secondary aerosol formation processes in Antarctica The study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy through project BIOeNUC (CGL2013-49020-R), PI-ICE (CTM2017-89117-R) and the Ramon y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2012-11922), and by the EU though the FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF programme (Project number 624680, MANU - Marine Aerosol NUcleations), all to MD, and PEGASO (CTM2012-37615) to RS Peer Reviewed