The sea surface microlayer as a source of viral and bacterial enrichment in marine aerosols

Aller, Josephine Y.; Kuznetsova, Marina; Jahns, Christopher J.; Kemp, Paul F.

doi:10.1016/j.jaerosci.2004.10.012

Cited by 345 publications

(381 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(54 reference statements)

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“…A possible explanation comes from the observation [23] that bacteria and viruses were mainly transferred to the atmosphere in transparent gel-like particles when sea water from the surface microlayer of the ocean was bubbled. Collapse of gels can be sudden and irreversible [4] and bacteria and viruses may then be ejected with, and separated from, the trapped water.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sources, nature and influence on climate of marine airborne particles

Bigg¹

2007

Environ. Chem.

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Environmental context. Climate models are of considerable interest to scientists and the general public given the increasing awareness of global climate change. A large uncertainty in climate models is the influence of airborne particles on the amount of sunlight that clouds reflect back to space. Since oceans comprise 70% of the Earth's surface, it is important that we gain an understanding of the factors that control the sources and nature of marine airborne particles. This work describes previously unexplored features of the marine aerosol at a clean site exposed to the Southern Ocean and its environmental importance, which will be of benefit to future climate models.Abstract. Airborne particles (aerosol) collected at Cape Grim, Tasmania, in February 2006 in baseline conditions were examined by transmission electron microscopy. Particles recognised as marine exopolymer gels, and aggregates of insoluble organic particles that have diameters of ∼40 nm, formed 9% of the particles larger than 200 nm. Once watersoluble compounds were removed by dialysis, the proportion rose to 30%. The gels and exopolymers were mainly of marine algal and bacterial origin. Their highly surface-active properties make them potentially environmentally important in the aerosol because of their ability to act as cloud condensation nuclei. The chemical constitution of particles in the 80-200-nm diameter size range is controversial, and widely varying estimates of the proportion of sea salt they contain have been published. Possible reasons for this are discussed. The present work supports the lowest estimate.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sources, nature and influence on climate of marine airborne particles

Bigg¹

2007

Environ. Chem.

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“…The presence of spectral features similar to diatom cell wall fragments and diatom exudates material suggests the presence of diatoms in both SML5 and SML19. It is important to note that marine SMLs 13,18,[56][57][58] , subsurface waters 59 , and biofilms 60 are comprised of a complex mixture of inorganic particles, particulate organic matter in the form of microorganisms, biogenic debris, polysaccharide enriched microgels, lipids, proteins and amino acids. Therefore, the X-ray spectra shown here will not be identical for different SML samples.…”

Section: Stxm/nexafs Analysis Of Arctic Microlayer Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sea spray is one of the major global sources of atmospheric particles, but it is unclear to what extent these particles are capable of nucleating ice 3-11 . Sea spray aerosol contains large amounts of organic material that is ejected into the atmosphere during bubble bursting at the organically enriched sea-air interface or sea surface microlayer [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . Here we show that organic material in the sea surface microlayer nucleates ice under conditions relevant for mixed-phase cloud and high-altitude ice cloud formation.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Rising bubbles scavenge surface active organic material from the water column at their interfaces and this process facilitates the formation of the organic enriched sea-air interface known as the sea surface microlayer (SML). This organic material is ejected into the atmosphere during bubble bursting resulting in sea spray aerosol containing similar organic material to that of the microlayer [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] ( Figure 1). Measurements of atmospheric INP concentrations in the remote oceans indicate that there may be a marine source of INPs linked to marine biology [3][4][5] , and modelling work indicates that this may be important in mixed phase clouds 9,10 .…”

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A marine biogenic source of atmospheric ice-nucleating particles

Wilson

Ladino

Alpert

et al. 2015

Nature

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494

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The amount of ice present in clouds can affect cloud lifetime, precipitation and radiative properties 1,2 . The formation of ice in clouds is facilitated by the presence of airborne ice nucleating particles 1,2 . Sea spray is one of the major global sources of atmospheric particles, but it is unclear to what extent these particles are capable of nucleating ice 3-11 . Sea spray aerosol contains large amounts of organic material that is ejected into the atmosphere during bubble bursting at the organically enriched sea-air interface or sea surface microlayer [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . Here we show that organic material in the sea surface microlayer nucleates ice under conditions relevant for mixed-phase cloud and high-altitude ice cloud formation. The ice nucleating material is likely biogenic and less than ~0.2 μm in size. We find that exudates separated from cells of the marine diatom T. Pseudonana nucleate ice and propose that organic material associated with phytoplankton cell exudates is a likely candidate for the observed ice nucleating ability of the microlayer samples. Global model simulations of marine organic aerosol in combination with our measurements suggest that marine organic material may be an important source of ice nucleating particles in remote marine environments such as the Southern Ocean, North Pacific and North Atlantic.Atmospheric ice nucleating particles (INPs) allow ice to nucleate heterogeneously at higher temperatures or lower relative humidity than is typical for homogeneous ice nucleation. Heterogeneous ice nucleation proceeds via different pathways depending on temperature and humidity. In low altitude mixed-phase clouds, INPs are commonly immersed in supercooled liquid droplets and freezing can occur on them at temperatures between -36 and 0°C 2 . At higher altitudes and lower temperatures (<-36°C) where cirrus clouds form, nucleation occurs below water saturation, proceeding by homogeneous, deposition or immersion-in-solution nucleation 1 . Understanding the sources of atmospheric INPs is important because they affect cloud lifetime, cloud albedo and precipitation 1,2 . Recent modelling work has shown that the ocean is potentially an important source of biogenic atmospheric INPs particularly in remote, high latitude regions 9,10 . However, it has never been directly shown that there is a source of atmospheric INPs associated with organic material found in marine waters or sea-spray aerosol.Organic material makes up a substantial fraction of sub-micron sea-spray aerosol and it is estimated that 10±5 Tg yr -1 of primary organic sub-micron aerosol is emitted from marine sources globally 12 . Rising bubbles scavenge surface active organic material from the water column at their interfaces and this process facilitates the formation of the organic enriched sea-air interface known as the sea surface microlayer (SML). This organic material is ejected into the atmosphere during bubble bursting resulting in sea spray aerosol containing similar organic material to that of the microlaye...

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“…Results from world literature show that most chemicals and microorganisms are accumulated in the surface microlayer water at higher concentrations than are is observed in the subsurface layer -this refers to heavy metals (Wurl and Obbard 2004;Antonowicz et al 2015), biogenic substances (Trojanowski et al 2001;Mudryk et al 2003), organic substances (Cincinelli et al 2001) as well as chlorophyll (Knulst et al 1997;Antonowicz 2014), bacteria (Estep et al 1985;Walczak 1998) or viruses (Aller et al 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroelements in the surface microlayer of water of urban ponds

Antonowicz

Kubiak

Machula

2016

Limnological Review

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Analyses were conducted concerning the accumulation of four metals representing the group of macroelements, i.e. sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium in two ponds located in the city of Słupsk. Water samples for chemical analyses were collected from the surface microlayer using a Garrett net. At the same time subsurface water samples were collected. Concentrations of metals were determined using a mass spectrometer. Generally, amounts of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium were similar in surface microlayer and subsurface water. Only in the case of potassium and calcium was low enrichment observed in the surface microlayer in one pond, while the greatest extent for magnesium enrichment was observed in the spring period.

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The sea surface microlayer as a source of viral and bacterial enrichment in marine aerosols

Cited by 345 publications

References 51 publications

Sources, nature and influence on climate of marine airborne particles

Sources, nature and influence on climate of marine airborne particles

A marine biogenic source of atmospheric ice-nucleating particles

Macroelements in the surface microlayer of water of urban ponds

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