Wintertime Arctic Sea Spray Aerosol Composition Controlled by Sea Ice Lead Microbiology.

ABSTRACT: The Arctic is experiencing the greatest warming on Earth, as most evident by rapid sea ice loss. Delayed sea ice freeze-up in the Alaskan Arctic is decreasing wintertime sea ice extent and changing marine biological activity. However, the impacts of newly open water on wintertime sea spray aerosol (SSA) production and atmospheric composition are unknown. Herein, we identify SSA, produced locally from open sea ice fractures (leads), as the dominant aerosol source in the coastal Alaskan Arctic during winter, highlighting the year-round nature of Arctic SSA emissions. Nearly all of the individual SSA featured thick organic coatings, consisting of marine saccharides, amino acids, fatty acids, and divalent cations, consistent with exopolymeric secretions produced as cryoprotectants by sea ice a

SUBMITTER: Kirpes RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6891865 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature