A marine biogenic source of atmospheric ice-nucleating particles.
The amount of ice present in clouds can affect cloud lifetime, precipitation and radiative properties. The formation of ice in clouds is facilitated by the presence of airborne ice-nucleating particles. Sea spray is one of the major global sources of atmospheric particles, but it is unclear to what extent these particles are capable of nucleating ice. Sea-spray aerosol contains large amounts of organic material that is ejected into the atmosphere during bubble bursting at the organically enriched sea-air interface or sea surface microlayer. Here we show that organic material in the sea surface microlayer nucleates ice under conditions relevant for mixed-phase cloud and high-altitude ice cloud formation. The ice-nucleating material is probably biogenic and less than approximately 0.2 micrometres in size. We find that exudates separated from cells of the marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana nucleate ice, and propose that organic material associated with phytoplankton cell exudates is a likely candidate for the observed ice-nucleating ability of the microlayer samples. Global model simulations of marine organic aerosol, in combination with our measurements, suggest that marine organic material may be an important source of ice-nucleating particles in remote marine environments such as the Southern Ocean, North Pacific Ocean and North Atlantic Ocean.
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Theodore W
TW
Wilson
Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada.
Luis A
LA
Ladino
Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5000, USA.
Peter A
PA
Alpert
School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK.
Mark N
MN
Breckels
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Ian M
IM
Brooks
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Jo
J
Browse
Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, Washington 99354, USA.
Susannah M
SM
Burrows
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Kenneth S
KS
Carslaw
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado 80208, USA.
J Alex
JA
Huffman
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Christopher
C
Judd
School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5000, USA.
Wendy P
WP
Kilthau
Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada.
Ryan H
RH
Mason
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Gordon
G
McFiggans
Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Sidney, British Columbia V8L 4B2, Canada.
Lisa A
LA
Miller
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Juan J
JJ
Nájera
Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada.
Elena
E
Polishchuk
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Stuart
S
Rae
Air Quality Science Unit, Environment Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3S5, Canada.
Corinne L
CL
Schiller
Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada.
Meng
M
Si
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Jesús Vergara
JV
Temprado
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Thomas F
TF
Whale
Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada.
Jenny P S
JP
Wong
Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde, Department of Biological Oceanography, Seestraße 15, 18119 Rostock, Germany.
Oliver
O
Wurl
Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada.
Jacqueline D
JD
Yakobi-Hancock
Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada.
Jonathan P D
JP
Abbatt
School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5000, USA.
Josephine Y
JY
Aller
Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada.
Allan K
AK
Bertram
Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5000, USA.
Daniel A
DA
Knopf
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Benjamin J
BJ
Murray
D000336:Aerosols / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D000388:Air; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000737:chemistry; D001110:Arctic Regions; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D017377:Diatoms / Q000737:chemistry; D005615:Freezing; D007053:Ice; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000737:chemistry; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry
D000336:Aerosols; D007053:Ice; D009930:Organic Chemicals