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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 3, NUMBER 9, SEPTEMBER 1990

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
MARINE BIOLOGY AND DMS

Item #d90sep26

"Diving into the Organic Soup," J.R. Toggweiler (Geophys. Fluid Dynamics Lab., Princeton Univ., POB 308, Princeton NJ 08542), Nature, 345(6272), 203-204, May 17, 1990. Discusses the broader context of the article by Koike in the same issue (see next entry). Ninety-eight percent of the ocean's saprosphere, made up of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and particulate detritus, consists of dissolved, colloidal and submicrometer particle pools that largely defy characterization. The Koike article describes a few simple experiments that show how the DOM appear to be actively involved in the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nitrogen.

Item #d90sep27

"Role of Sub-Micrometre Particles in the Ocean," I. Koike (Ocean Res. Inst., Univ. Tokyo, Nakano, Tokyo 164, Japan), H. Shigemitsu et al., ibid., 242-244.

Presents results from epifluorescence microscopy and from particle counting that has determined the vertical distribution of sub-micrometer particles. Greater than 95% of these particles are nonliving, but are composed largely of organic material with a high water content and occur in the upper layers of the ocean in concentrations of the order of 106 per milliliter. At least 10% of dissolved organic matter may be in the form of these small particles.

Item #d90sep28

"Global Ocean-to-Atmosphere Dimethyl Sulfide Flux," D.J. Erikson III (Scripps Inst. Oceanog., San Diego A-024, La Jolla CA 92093), S.J. Ghan, J.E. Penner, J. Geophys. Res., 95(D6), 7543-7552, May 20, 1990.

Calculates the global ocean-to-atmosphere flux of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) on a monthly basis with 4.5° x 7.5° latitude/longitude spatial resolution using the NCAR Community Climate Model 1 to generate global surface radiation fields. The oceanic DMS concentrations computed agree with the experimental data in those regions not impacted by high biological productivity. In areas of relatively high oceanic productivity, the solar-radiation-DMS flux relationship underestimates the ocean-to-atmosphere DMS flux and the subsequently computed surface ocean DMS concentrations.

Item #d90sep29

"Sources of Variability in Satellite-Derived Estimates of Phytoplankton Production in the Eastern Tropical Pacific," K. Banse (Sch. Oceanog., WB-10, Univ. Washington, Seattle WA 98195), M. Yong, ibid., 95(C5), 7201-7215, May 15, 1990.

Calculates column production from satellite data simulated by shipboard pigment values, using data collected from 1967 to 1986 from 138 stations, and correlates this with simultaneously observed primary production rates. Shows that with this data the accuracy of the column production as calculated from simulated satellite observations is limited largely by the unpredictable variability of the photosynthetic rate near light saturation.

Item #d90sep30

"Biological Removal of Dimethyl Sulphide from Sea Water," R.P. Kiene (Univ. Georgia Marine Inst., Sapelo Island GA 31327), T.S. Bates, Nature, 345(6277), 702-705, June 21, 1990.

Presents data from incubation experiments, carried out at sea, which show that dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is removed by microbial activity 3 to 430 times faster than by ventilation to the atmosphere. These results have significant implications for climate feedback models involving DMS emissions and highlight the importance of the microbial food web in oceanic DMS cycling.

Item #d90sep31

"Airborne Measurements of Dimethylsulfide, Sulfur Dioxide, and Aerosol Ions over the Southern Ocean South of Australia," H. Berresheim (Georgia Inst. Technol., Sch. Earth & Atmos. Sci., Atlanta GA 30332), M.O. Andreae et al., J. Atmos. Chem., 10(3), 341-370, Apr. 1990.

Vertical distributions measured in maritime air west of Tasmania show dimethyl sulfide (DMS) concentrations in the mixed layer to be typically 15-60 ppt and to decrease in the free troposphere to <<1-2.4 ppt at 3 km. Based on model calculations the DMS lifetime in the mixed layer is estimated to be 0.9 days and the DMS sea-to-air flux to be 2-3 micro mol m-2 d-1. Model calculations suggest that roughly two-thirds of DMS in the mixed layer is converted to SO2 and one-third to methane-sulfonate.

Item #d90sep32

"Dimethylsulfide and the Alga Phaeocystis pouchetii in Antarctic Coastal Waters," J.A.E. Gibson et al.,--H.R. Burton (Australian Antarctic Div., Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia), Marine Biol., 104(2), 339-346, 1990.

Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) measured in water collected in the southern ocean from May 1987 to January 1988 rose dramatically from December onwards in conjunction with increased alga bloom. The ratio of DMS concentration to the number of cells of the alga was considerably higher than reported for blooms of this species elsewhere in the ocean. Up to 10% of the total flux of DMS to the atmosphere may come from Antarctic seas.

Item #d90sep33

"Dimethyl Sulfide in the Baltic Sea: Annual Variability in Relation to Biological Activity," C. Leck (Dept. Meteor., Univ. Stockholm, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden), U. Larsson et al., J. Geophys. Res., 95(C3), 3353-3363, Mar. 15, 1990.

Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in the surface waters of the brackish Baltic Sea showed a clear seasonal variation related to biological activity. Lowest concentrations were in the winter, with peak values following the spring bloom as well as a pronounced maximum during the summer. Demonstrates that variations in DMS concentrations are the result of complex physiological as well as ecological interactions.

Item #d90sep34

"Interlaboratory Calibration and Sample Analysis of Dimethyl Sulphide in Water," S.M. Turner (Sch. Environ. Sci., Univ. E. Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK), G. Malin et al., Marine Chem., 29(1), 47-62, Mar. 1990. Tests and assesses four calibration techniques. Discusses the problems associated with the analysis of samples with high densities of phytoplankton.