Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pjpqr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-08T01:17:08.241Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Report Group 3 – Photochemistry in the sea-surface microlayer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2009

Peter S. Liss
Affiliation:
University of East Anglia
Robert A. Duce
Affiliation:
Texas A & M University
Get access

Summary

Introduction

Due to the enrichment of chemicals and biota within the sea-surface microlayer, there is the widely held presumption that the surface microlayer could act as a highly efficient and selective microreactor, effectively concentrating and transforming materials brought to the interface from the atmosphere and oceans by physical processes. Rapid photochemical, chemical, and biological reactions within the microlayer could produce a variety of interesting feedbacks. For example, photochemical reactions might destroy (or produce) surface-active species, thereby altering surface wave damping and gas exchange rates. Elevated levels of highly reactive intermediates produced within this zone could present a ‘reaction barrier’ to the transport of some chemicals and trace gases across the air–sea interface, thus affecting their flux to the atmosphere or ocean. Further, reactions occurring within the microlayer potentially could enhance (or deplete) the surface concentrations of certain gases relative to those of bulk seawater, chemically modify compounds during their transport across the interface, alter the redox state, speciation and biological availability of trace metals deposited by the atmosphere to the interface, as well as influence the types and distributions of microlayer materials introduced to the atmosphere by bubble injection and to the deep ocean by particle settling.

Although these processes are very intriguing and potentially of great importance, in many instances evidence supporting the existence of them is lacking.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×