Implications of methyl bromide supersaturations in the temperate North Atlantic Ocean Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Methyl bromide saturation anomalies measured in the springtime North Atlantic and summertime North Pacific Oceans during 1998 revealed persistent supersaturations in the temperate waters of the northeastern Atlantic but undersaturations in tropical waters of both oceans. A comparison of data from this study with those from a previous cruise to the northeastern Atlantic suggests that methyl bromide is cycled seasonally in these waters and perhaps in all temperate openocean waters. This means that the calculated net flux of methyl bromide into the oceans is slightly less negative than previously reported. With these new insights we estimate that the global airsea flux of methyl bromide ranges from 11 to 20 Gg yr1. Data combined from this and three previous cruises support a flux dependence upon sea surface temperature, as reported recently by Groszko and Moore [1998]. Whereas sea surface temperature can account for 4070% of the observed variability in methyl bromide globally, it is able to reproduce only a small fraction of the observed seasonal cycle in the temperate northeastern Atlantic. The development of reliable predictions of airsea fluxes of methyl bromide will require information on additional variables as well.

published proceedings

  • JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES

altmetric score

  • 3

author list (cited authors)

  • King, D. B., Butler, J. H., Montzka, S. A., Yvon-Lewis, S. A., & Elkins, J. W.

citation count

  • 40

complete list of authors

  • King, DB||Butler, JH||Montzka, SA||Yvon-Lewis, SA||Elkins, JW

publication date

  • August 2000