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A comprehensive estimate for loss of atmospheric carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) to the ocean
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  • DOI:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10899-2016
  • Personal Authors:
  • Description:
    Extensive undersaturations of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern Ocean surface waters indicate that atmospheric CCl4 is consumed in large amounts by the ocean. Observations made on 16 research cruises between 1987 and 2010, ranging in latitude from 60 degrees N to 77 degrees S, show that negative saturations extend over most of the surface ocean. Corrected for physical effects associated with radiative heat flux, mixing, and air injection, these anomalies were commonly on the order of 5 to 10 %, with no clear relationship to temperature, productivity, or other gross surface water characteristics other than being more negative in association with upwelling. The atmospheric flux required to sustain these undersaturations is 12.4 (9.4-15.4) Gg yr(-1), a loss rate implying a partial atmospheric lifetime with respect to the oceanic loss of 183 (147241) yr and that similar to 18 (14-22) % of atmospheric CCl4 is lost to the ocean. Although CCl4 hydrolyzes in seawater, published hydrolysis rates for this gas are too slow to support such large undersaturations, given our current understanding of air-sea gas exchange rates. The even larger undersaturations in intermediate depth waters associated with reduced oxygen levels, observed in this study and by other investigators, strongly suggest that CCl4 is ubiquitously consumed at mid-depth, presumably by microbiota. Although this subsurface sink creates a gradient that drives a downward flux of CCl4, the gradient alone is not sufficient to explain the observed surface undersaturations. Since known chemical losses are likewise insufficient to sustain the observed undersaturations, this suggests a possible biological sink for CCl4 in surface or near-surface waters of the ocean. The total atmospheric lifetime for CCl4, based on these results and the most recent studies of soil uptake and loss in the stratosphere is now 32 (26-43) yr.

  • Document Type:
    Journal Article
  • Collection(s):
    Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)
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      Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(21), 5812-5819.
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      Description:
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      Description:
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      Personal Author:
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      Description:
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      File Type:
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      Personal Author:
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      Published:
      2016
      Source:
      Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 121(7), 3663-3686.
      Series:
      CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences)
      Description:
      We report ground-based atmospheric measurements and emission estimates for the halons H-1211 (CBrClF2), H-1301 (CBrF3), and H-2402 (CBrF2CBrF2) from the AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adm...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 2.26 MB]
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      Personal Author:
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      Published:
      2017
      Source:
      Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 122(2), 1203-1223.
      Series:
      CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences)
      Description:
      A 20 month cloud condensation nucleus concentration (N-CCN) data set from Graciosa Island (39 degrees N, 28 degrees W) in the remote North Atlantic is used to characterize air masses with low cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations. Low-CCN ev...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 6.32 MB]
    20. The influence of daily meteorology on boreal fire emissions and regional trace gas variability
      Personal Author:
      Wiggins, E. B.; Veraverbeke, S.; Henderson, J. M.; Karion, A.; Miller, J. B.; Lindaas, J.; Commane, R.; Sweeney, C.; Luus, K. A.; Tosca, M. G.; Dinardo, S. J.; Wofsy, S.; Miller, C. E.; Randerson, J. T.;
      Published:
      2016
      Source:
      Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, 121(11), 2793-2810.
      Series:
      CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences)
      Description:
      Relationships between boreal wildfire emissions and day-to-day variations in meteorological variables are complex and have important implications for the sensitivity of high-latitude ecosystems to climate change. We examined the influence of environm...
      File Type:
      Filetype[PDF - 2.44 MB]
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