Characterization And Sources Of Phosphorus In The Aerosol During The 3^rd Chinese Arctic Research Expediton

Atmospheric aerosol is a small but important part of atmospheric composition. Aerosols could scatter and absorb solar radiations and affect the global climate change as ice nuclei (IN) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). For Marine, the transportation and settlement of aerosols are an important source of nutrients, especially for the phosphorus which don’t have a stable pattern in gas phase (different from carbon and nitrogen). So the most notable nutrient is the phosphorus. This study investigate phosphorous aerosol from the following two aspects. The first part is the concentration and spatial distribution of total phosphorus in aerosols, including its causes and source analysis. The second part is the different components of phosphorus and its possible causes.Atmospheric aerosol samples were collected onboard a round-trip cruise from July to September 2008 over the Eastern Asia Sea, Western North Pacific, and the Arctic Ocean (31.1-85.18N,122.48E-146.18W). The concentration of trace elements, and water-soluble ions collected during the 3rd China Arctic were measured. Total phosphorus (TP), total inorganic phosphorus (TIP) were analyzed separately and the difference between them used to calculate the organic phosphorus (OP) content. The main conclusions are as follows:(1) TP and TIP levels varied considerably both spatially and temporally over the trip. The average of phosphorus during the trip is 7.18 ng/m3. The gap between there sea area is very small. The result suggests that the phosphorus in atmospheric aerosol over the Arctic Ocean had a higher concentration than we usually thought.(2)TIP was found to be the dominant species in most samples, accounting for 86.6% of TP on average. Whereas organic phosphorus was also a significant fraction of total phosphorus.(3) According to the source apportionment analysis, crustal sources provide the largest contribution to the TP in entire cruise. Anthropogenic source contribute a considerable part of phosphorus aerosol in the East Asia. Different form this, the contribution of sea salt is stable during the entire trip.(4) Measurements proved that the phosphorus aerosols can transport over long distances and developing a global phosphorus cycle. It may be an important source of nutrients for some remote region.