Atmospheric DMS in the Arctic Ocean and Its Relation to Phytoplankton Biomass

Abstract

We recorded and analyzed the atmospheric dimethyl sulfide (DMS) mixing ratios at a remote Arctic location (Svalbard; 78.5 degrees N, 11.8 degrees E) during phytoplankton bloom periods in the years 2010, 2014, and 2015 and found varying regional relationships between the atmospheric DMS and the extent of exposure of the air mass to the phytoplankton biomass in the ocean surrounding the observation site. The DMS production capacity of the Greenland Sea was estimated to be a factor of 3 greater than that of the Barents Sea, whereas the phytoplankton biomass in the Barents Sea was more than twofold than that in the Greenland Sea. These apparently contradictory results may be induced by the occurrence of a greater abundance of DMS-producing phytoplankton in the Greenland Sea than in the Barents Sea during the phytoplankton bloom periods.