Origin of dimethylsulfide, non-sea-salt sulfate, and methanesulfonic acid in eastern Antarctica

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research
• Main Authors: Cosme, E., Hourdin, Frédéric, Genthon, C., Martinerie, P.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), European Project of Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2005
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-00374123; https://insu.hal.science/insu-00374123/document; https://insu.hal.science/insu-00374123/file/2004JD004881.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004881

International audience Ignoring the origin of atmospheric chemicals is often a strong limitation to the full interpretation of their measurement. In this article, this question is addressed in the case of the sulfur species in Antarctica, with an original method of retrotransport of tracers. The retrotransport model is derived from the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique Zoom-Tracers (LMD-ZT) atmospheric general circulation model, optimized for polar climate and expanded to simulate atmospheric sulfur chemistry. For two East Antarctic scientific stations (Dumont d'Urville and Vostok) the effects of transport and chemistry and the influence of oceanic, volcanic, and anthropogenic sources on dimethylsulfide (DMS), non-sea-salt (nss) sulfate, and methanesulfonic acid (MSA) concentrations are evaluated in summer and winter. The oceanic source largely dominates, but other sources can episodically be significant. The meridional origin and the age of DMS, MSA, and biogenic nss sulfate are also estimated. The latitudes of origin of MSA and nss sulfate are similar in summer, but they differ markedly in winter. This is a signature of their different chemical production scheme. Also, the interannual variability of the origin of the sulfur species at Vostok is weak compared to that at Dumont d'Urville. Acknowledging that the DMS concentrations in the ocean have no interannual variability in the model, this result suggests unsurprisingly that inland Antarctic stations may be better observation sites to monitor large-scale DMS bioproductivity variability than coastal sites are. The combination of slower chemistry and more intense atmospheric circulation in winter leads to unexpected results, such as a younger DMS in winter than in summer at Vostok.