2025/09/14 by Caleb Mynard, Emily B. Franklin, Joel Alroe +7 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols #Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics #Atmospheric Ozone and Climate
paper · pdf · doi:10.1029/2025gl116470
openalex publication_date 2025/09/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Abstract Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and methanethiol (MeSH) are biologically co‐produced marine volatile sulfur compounds, which play a critical role in climate‐cooling aerosol formation. The spatio‐temporal distributions of MeSH are poorly constrained, especially over the Southern Ocean. DMS and MeSH atmospheric concentrations and relative contributions to volatile methylated sulfur (VMS) were measured across the Southern Ocean, spanning all seasons and latitudes from 37°S to 67°S. Highest absolute mixing ratios of MeSH occurred in summer (up to 250 ppt), over biologically productive waters at 45°S to 52°S and close to the Antarctic coast (62°S). Highest MeSH/VMS occurred in spring and winter (up to 35%), and at the Subtropical Front and Antarctic coast. These results constrain MeSH contributions to VMS over the Southern Ocean, explore mechanisms driving these dynamics, and support recently modeled MeSH importance to the atmospheric sulfur burden, with significant implications for modeling climate‐cooling aerosols.