Abstract:

Marine atmospheric chemistry is a frontier interdiscipline which combines marine chemistry and atmospheric chemistry. Chinese researches in marine atmospheric chemistry over the Southern Ocean has been advancing as a result of Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE) since the early 1980s. Over more than 30 years, with the experience accumulation and data integration of Antarctic scientific investigation, the researches on the key processes of marine atmospheric chemistry over the Southern Ocean, namely the atmospheric-marine biogeochemical cycle of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus and iron, have made great progress. The research on the sea-air circulation of carbon and nitrogen and the sea-air particle exchange of sulfur, which is closely related to climate change, has led to new knowledge and achieved results. Chinese researches in marine atmospheric chemistry over the Southern Ocean focused on atmospheric aerosol chemical species characteristics and sources to explore key processes of atmospheric-marine geochemistry and estimate the sea-air exchange fluxes of sulfur, phosphorus and nitrogen. With the implementation of the project Antarctic Response and Feedback Role in Global Change, we improved our understanding of the global change sensitive elements such as carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and iron in the Southern Ocean and their effects on environment and climate. A deeper understanding has also been developed in the spatial distribution of carbon sinks in the sea ice zone of the Southern Ocean, and the sea-air exchange processes of DMS, MSA, N2O, Fe, as well as their impacts on the ecological environment. At the same time, important advances have been made in the research of technologies for underway observation of chemical species.

Key words: marine atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric-marine biogeochemistry, the Southern Ocean, Reviews