Multiple oceanic sources of alkylamines in Southern Ocean atmospheres
Measurements of pre-industrial conditions are of paramount importance for understanding historical climate change. The Southern Ocean and Antarctic continent are some of the least polluted environments on planet Earth. Alkylamines can rapidly partition into aerosols, increasing their mass, as well as form new particles altogether. We demonstrate the importance of pelagic “open ocean” (OO) and sympagic “sea ice” (SI) regions in supplying distinct organic nitrogen aerosol components. In the aerosol phase, dimethylamine (DMA) and trimethylamine (TMA) are both secondary, though DMA likely originates mainly from pelagic regions, while TMA is associated mainly with sympagic regions. Parallel measurements in ice and surface waters reveal that melting sea ice contains a factor of four more TMA than coastal Antarctic Peninsula waters; and seventeen times more TMA than OO regions - suggesting additional coastal Antarctic sources. To better interpret future climate change, we recommend employing regional atmospheric chemistry models to understand these diverse aerosol sources.
Authors
- James Brean (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5430-6994)
- Stefano Decesari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6486-3786)
- Preston Akenga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1220-9560)
- Roy M. Harrison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2684-5226)
- Matteo Rinaldi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6543-4000)
- David C. S. Beddows (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9277-2099)
- Dolors Vaqué (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0420-5914)
- Ana Sotomayor
- A. E. Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2040-4841)
- Tom Lachlan‐Cope (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0657-3235)
- Marco Paglione (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4423-2570)
- Karam Mansour (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0588-9411)
- Elisa Berdalet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1123-9706)
- Mark F. Fitzsimons (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6443-6087)
- Manuel Dall ́Osto
Institutions
- British Antarctic Survey (GB)
- Natural Environment Research Council (GB)
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory (GB)
- University College Birmingham (GB)
- Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (IT)
- National Centre for Atmospheric Science (GB)
- Institut de Ciències del Mar (ES)
- Kisii University (KE)
- National Research Council (IT)
- University of Plymouth (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
- Published
- 2025-12-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01284-6
- Primary Topic
- Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
- Natural Environment Research Council