CCN Activity and Surface Tension of Aerosolized Seawater Viruses
Abstract
Marine viruses are ubiquitous constituents of seawater and likely contribute to sea-spray aerosol generated via wave breaking and bubble bursting mechanisms. However, the ability of these biological particles to participate in warm cloud processes has not been well explored to date. Here, we present results of a laboratory study conducted as part of the NASA North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES). We propagated, isolated, and purified viruses from representative coccolithophore (Emiliania huxleyi) and diatom (Chaetoceros tennuisimus) phytoplankton species that are known to bloom in the North Atlantic. These viruses—Emiliania huxleyi viruses (EhV; lipid enveloped dsDNA viruses; 180 nm), Chaetoceros tennusiums ssRNA viruses (CtenRNAV; ssRNA viruses; 20 nm), and C. tennuissimus ssDNA viruses (CtenDNAV; ssDNA viruses; 20 nm)— comprise different morphological size structures, genomic content, and extent of enveloped membrane lipids. Once dialyzed and diluted in ultrapure water, viruses were individually nebulized to produce aerosol particles that were subsequently dried before being introduced into an Aerodyne High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) and a DMT Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor (WIBS-4A). The HR-ToF-AMS was used to verify the dominant organic signal of the laboratory-generated aerosol. Measurements of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity and aerosol hygroscopicity at varying water vapor supersaturations were made using size-classified aerosol (via a differential mobility analyzer) introduced into a DMT CCN counter. Finally, bulk solution measurements of surface tension of different size fractions of the lysate (via the pendant drop technique) provide important constraints for differentiating the solute and surface tension effects of viruses on their CCN activity. This study will provide mechanistic insight for observed correlations between the concentration of enveloped and non-enveloped viruses and measured onboard CCN activity during the NAAMES campaigns. Implications for the role of marine viruses on aerosol-cloud interactions will be discussed.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.A11L2417D
- Keywords:
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- 0305 Aerosols and particles;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0320 Cloud physics and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0426 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions;
- BIOGEOSCIENCESDE: 4504 Air/sea interactions;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL