A comprehensive estimate for loss of atmospheric carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) to the ocean

• Published in: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
• Main Authors: J. H. Butler, S. A. Yvon-Lewis, J. M. Lobert, D. B. King, S. A. Montzka, J. L. Bullister, V. Koropalov, J. W. Elkins, B. D. Hall, L. Hu, Y. Liu
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2016
• Subjects: Physics; QC1-999; Chemistry; QD1-999; Pacific; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10899-2016; https://doaj.org/article/9ea6d001933e4000a7f39950e65900b2

Extensive undersaturations of carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) in Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern Ocean surface waters indicate that atmospheric CCl 4 is consumed in large amounts by the ocean. Observations made on 16 research cruises between 1987 and 2010, ranging in latitude from 60° N to 77° S, show that negative saturations extend over most of the surface ocean. Corrected for physical effects associated with radiative heat flux, mixing, and air injection, these anomalies were commonly on the order of −5 to −10 %, with no clear relationship to temperature, productivity, or other gross surface water characteristics other than being more negative in association with upwelling. The atmospheric flux required to sustain these undersaturations is 12.4 (9.4–15.4) Gg yr −1 , a loss rate implying a partial atmospheric lifetime with respect to the oceanic loss of 183 (147–241) yr and that ∼ 18 (14–22) % of atmospheric CCl 4 is lost to the ocean. Although CCl 4 hydrolyzes in seawater, published hydrolysis rates for this gas are too slow to support such large undersaturations, given our current understanding of air–sea gas exchange rates. The even larger undersaturations in intermediate depth waters associated with reduced oxygen levels, observed in this study and by other investigators, strongly suggest that CCl 4 is ubiquitously consumed at mid-depth, presumably by microbiota. Although this subsurface sink creates a gradient that drives a downward flux of CCl 4 , the gradient alone is not sufficient to explain the observed surface undersaturations. Since known chemical losses are likewise insufficient to sustain the observed undersaturations, this suggests a possible biological sink for CCl 4 in surface or near-surface waters of the ocean. The total atmospheric lifetime for CCl 4 , based on these results and the most recent studies of soil uptake and loss in the stratosphere is now 32 (26–43) yr.