Physical and biogeochemical processes in seawater controlling primary marine aerosol (PMA) production and composition are poorly understood and associated with large uncertainties in estimated fluxes into the atmosphere. PMA production was investigated in the biologically productive NE Pacific Ocean and in biologically productive and oligotrophic regions of the NW Atlantic Ocean. Physicochemical properties of model PMA, produced by aeration of fresh seawater under controlled conditions, were quantified. Diel variability in model PMA mass and number fluxes was observed in biologically productive waters, increasing following sunrise and decreasing to predawn levels overnight. Such variability was not seen in oligotrophic waters. During daytime, surfactant scavenging by aeration in the aerosol generator without replenishing the seawater in the reservoir reduced the model PMA production in productive waters to nighttime levels but had no influence on production from oligotrophic waters. Results suggest bubble plume interactions with sunlight-mediated biogenic surfactants in productive seawater significantly enhanced model PMA production.

The oceans hold a massive quantity of organic carbon, nearly all of which is dissolved and more than 95% is refractory, cycling through the oceans several times before complete removal. The vast reservoir of refractory dissolved organic carbon (RDOC) is a critical component of the global carbon cycle that is relevant to our understanding of fundamental marine biogeochemical processes and the role of the oceans in climate change with respect to long‐term storage and sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Here we show that RDOC includes surface‐active organic matter that can be incorporated into primary marine aerosol produced by bursting bubbles at the sea surface. We propose that this process will deliver RDOC from the sea surface to the atmosphere wherein its photochemical oxidation corresponds to a potentially important and hitherto unknown removal mechanism for marine RDOC.