Journal article
Enrichment of saccharides at the air-water interface: a quantitative comparison of sea surface microlayer and foam
Environmental chemistry, Vol.19(8), pp.506-516
01/01/2022
DOI: 10.1071/EN22094
Abstract
Rationale. Organic matter accumulates at the ocean surface. Herein, we provide the first quantitative assessment of the enrichment of dissolved saccharides in persistent whitecap foam and compare this enrichment to the sea surface microlayer (SSML) during a 9 day mesocosm experiment involving a phytoplankton bloom generated in a Marine Aerosol Reference Tank (MART). Methodology. Free monosaccharides were quantified directly, total saccharides were determined following mild acid hydrolysis and the oligo/polysaccharide component was determined as the difference between total and free monosaccharides. Results. Total saccharides contributed a significant fraction of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), accounting for 13% of DOC in seawater, 27% in SSML and 31% in foam. Median enrichment factors (EFs), calculated as the ratio of the concentrations of saccharides relative to sodium in SSML or foam to that of seawater, ranged from 1.7 to 6.4 in SSML and 2.1-12.1 in foam. Based on median EFs, xylitol, mannitol, glucose, galactose, mannose, xylose, fucose, rhamnose and ribose were more enriched in foam than SSML. Discussion. The greatest EFs for saccharides coincided with high chlorophyll levels, indicating increasing ocean surface enrichment of saccharides during phytoplankton blooms. Higher enrichments of organic matter in sea foam over the SSML indicate that surface active organic compounds become increasingly enriched on persistent bubble film surfaces. These findings help to explain how marine organic matter becomes highly enriched in sea spray aerosol that is generated by bursting bubbles at the ocean surface.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Enrichment of saccharides at the air-water interface: a quantitative comparison of sea surface microlayer and foam
- Creators
- Thilina Jayarathne - University of IowaDilini Kirindigoda Gamage - Univ Iowa, Dept Chem, Iowa City, IA 52242 USAKimberly A. Prather - Univ Calif San Diego, Dept Chem & Biochem, La Jolla, CA 92093 USAElizabeth A. Stone - University of Iowa, Chemistry
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Environmental chemistry, Vol.19(8), pp.506-516
- DOI
- 10.1071/EN22094
- ISSN
- 1448-2517
- eISSN
- 1449-8979
- Publisher
- Csiro Publishing
- Number of pages
- 11
- Grant note
- CHE 1801971 / National Science Foundation through the Center of Chemical Innovation Program
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/01/2022
- Academic Unit
- Conservation and Collections Care; Chemistry; Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9984380658602771
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