Linking Phytoplankton Activity in Polynyas and Sulfur Aerosols over Zhongshan Station, East Antarctica

Multiple year-round aerosol samplings were conducted from February 2005 to October 2008 at Zhongshan Station, a research base in East Antarctica, to study methanesulfonic acid (MSA) and non-sea-salt sulfate (nss-SO42−). The concentrations of atmospheric sulfur species exhibited a seasonal cycle; the maximum and minimum concentrations occurred in austral summer and austral winter, respectively. Significant correlations between chlorophyll a (Chl a) in offshore polynyas and both MSA (r = 0.726, n = 52, and p < 0.01) and nss-SO42− (r = 0.724, n = 48, and p < 0.01) were found, indicating that the phytoplankton activity had a crucial effect on the sulfur aerosols. The sea ice dynamics in the polynyas and the variations in the polynya area may indirectly influence the sulfur aerosols in austral spring and summer. In austral winter, the sulfur compounds in the atmosphere are primarily originating in long-range transported by-products from remote regions because nearly no phytoplankton activity occurred in the offshore polynyas.