Contribution of Gulf area natural sulfur to the North American sulfur budget

Two series of air sampling flights were performed to evaluate the contribution of natural sulfur compounds from the Gulf of Mexico to the overall North American S budget. Total aerosol mass load and sulfate concentration data indicate that these observations can be divided into two categories. One data set was collected during southerly airflow in marine air, and the other during offshore flows in continental air. The potential contribution of biogenic S to the continental S budget is minimal, between 1.5-0.25%. The upper limit estimate of natural S transport into the continent may cause acidification of rainwater.