Oceanic dimethylsulfide (DMS) emissions to the atmosphere are potentially important to the Earth's radiative balance. Since these emissions are driven by the surface seawater concentration of DMS, it is important to understand the processes controlling the cycling of sulfur in surface seawater. During the third Pacific Sulfur/Stratus Investigation (PSI-3, April 1991) we measured the major sulfur reservoirs (total organic sulfur, total low molecular weight organic sulfur, ester sulfate, protein sulfur, dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), DMS, dimethylsulfoxide) and quantified many of the processes that cycle sulfur through the upper water column (sulfate assimilation, DMSP consumption, DMS production and consumption, air-sea exchange of DMS, loss of organic sulfur by particulate sinking). Under conditions of low plankton biomass (<0.4 gg/L chlorophyll a) and high nutrient concentrations (>8 tam nitrate), 250 km off the Washington State coast, DMSP and DMS were 22% and 0.9%, respectively, of the total particulate organic sulfur pool. DMS production from the enzymatic cleavage of DMSP accounted for 29% of the total sulfate assimilation. However, only 0.3% of sulfate-S assimilated was released to the atmosphere. From these data it is evident that air-sea exchange is currently only a minor sink in the seawater sulfur cycle and thus there is the potential for much higher DMS emissions under different climatic conditions. Introduction Oceanic dimethylsulfide (DMS) is currently thought to be the major natural source of sulfur to the atmosphere [Bates et al., 1992; Spiro et al., 1992]. Once in the atmosphere, DMS is oxidized to produce aerosol particles which affect the acidbase chemistry of the atmosphere [Charlson and Rodhe, 1982] and the radiative properties of marine stratus clouds [Charlson et al., 1987; Falkowski et al., 1992]. This latter effect is calculated to have a major impact on the Earth's radiative balance and hence its climate [Charlson et al., 1987]. The starting point in the marine atmospheric sulfur cycle is the air-sea exchange of DMS which is a function of the gas i NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington. transfer velocity and surface seawater DMS concentration. The gas transfer velocity is controlled primarily by surface turbulence, seawater temperature and gas diffusivity and can be modeled as a function of wind speed for various trace gases [Liss and Merlivat, 1986; Wanninkhof, 1992]. The different T. S. Bates, NOAA/Pacific Marine