An Investigation of Biogenic Trace Gas Emissions from the Southern Ocean: Impact on Boundary Layer Marine Composition and on the Distant Antarctic Plateau Atmosphere

During the last ten years chemical measurements at the South Pole as well as over extended regions of the larger plateau have revealed the presences of a chemically unique boundary layer (BL) atmosphere. Unique in that it has been shown to have a very large chemical oxidizing capacity. This has been reflected in summertime concentration measurements of the hydroxyl radical that average between 2 to 3 x 10(6) molec/cm(3). These new findings make quite evident that the Antarctic plateau (geographically the size of continental USA) must now be viewed as much more than a chemical graveyard where species transported to its surface from a multitude of SH sources are simply buried in ice. In fact, during the Austral spring, summer, and fall months, chemical elements arriving at the plateau may in many cases be further oxidized before burial and in still other cases oxidized even after burial. To be presented are several previously unreported observations of biogenic gases measured both over the Southern Ocean and on the plateau, some of which span all seasons of the year. Of particular significance will be regional modeling results that suggest that the concentration levels and chemical forms that these biogenic gases appear upon reaching the plateau depend not only on the productivity of the Southern Ocean and the seas surrounding Antarctica, but also on at least two additional factors. These include the efficiency of the transport process (e.g., as influenced by the sea ice extent) and the chemical oxidizing capacity of the Antarctic plateau's BL atmosphere.