Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Organic components in size-separated aerosols from the western North Pacific

  • Published:
Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Marine aerosols in the western North Pacific were collected using a cascade impactor. Size-separated aerosols were analyzed for organic carbon, alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The results showed that the rate of decrease of the atmospheric concentrations of these organic components with increase in distance from Japan as well as from the coast of the Eurasian Continent was in the order PAH≫alkanes>organic carbon. The bulk of all these organic components occurred in the smallest size fraction of particles (<1Μm). Analysis of the alkanes and PAH indicated that the hydrocarbons in aerosols in Japanese coastal marine areas are primarily derived from terrestrial anthropogenic sources which also contribute to a lesser extent to aerosols in marine areas about 1,000 km off the coast of Japan. In remote marine areas the hydrocarbons on small particles (<1Μm) have principally a natural terrestrial origin while those on larger particles are marine in origin.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barbier, M., D. Joly, A. Saliot and D. Tourres (1973): Hydrocarbons from sea water. Deep-Sea Res.,20, 305–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barger, W. R. and W. D. Garrett (1970): Surface active organic material in the marine atmosphere. J. Geophys. Res.,75, 4561–4566.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barger, W. R. and W. D. Garrett (1976): Surface active organic material in air over the Mediterranean and over the eastern equatorial Pacific. J. Geophys. Res.,81, 3151–3157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesselet, R., M. Fontugne, P. Buat-Ménard, U. Ezat and C.E. Lambert (1981): The origin of particulate organic carbon in the marine atmosphere as indicated by its stable carbon isotopic composition. Geophys. Res. Lett.,8, 345–348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eglinton, G. and R.J. Hamilton (1963): The distribution of alkanes. In: Chemical Plant Taxonomy. ed. by T. Swain, Academic Press. New York, pp. 187–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eichmann, R., P. Neuling, G. Ketseridis, J. Harn, R. Jaenicke and C. Junge (1979):n-Alkane studies in the troposphere—I. Gas and particulate concentrations in North Atlantic air. Atmos. Environ.,13, 587–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eichmann, R., G. Ketseridis, G. Schebeske, R. Jaenicke, J. Harn, P. Warneck and C. Junge (1980):n-Alkane studies in the troposphere—II. Gas and particulate concentrations in Indian Ocean air. Atmos. Environ.,14, 695–703.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagosian, R.B., E.T. Peltzer and O.C. Zafiriou (1981): Atmospheric transport of continentally derived lipids to the tropical North Pacific. Nature,291, 312–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagosian, R.B., O.C. Zafiriou, E.T. Peltzer and J.B. Alford (1982): Lipids in aerosols from the tropical North Pacific: temporal variability. J. Geophys. Res.,87, 11133–11144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallgren, B. and S. Larsson (1963): Long-chain hydrocarbons in pollen of rye. Acta Chem. Scand.,17, 1822–1824.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hites, R. A., R. E. Laflamme and J. W. Farrington (1977): Sedimentary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: the historical record. Science,198, 829–831.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hites, R.A., R.E. Laflamme, J.G. Windsor Jr., J.W. Farrington and W.G. Dueser (1980): Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in an anoxic sediment core from the Pettaquamscutt River (Rhode Island, U.S.A.). Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta,44, 873–878.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, E.J. and R.A. Duce (1977): Organic carbon in marine atmospheric particulate matter: concentration and particle size distribution. Geophys. Res. Lett.,4, 449–452.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, M. and C. Chan (1980): Comparative distribution of eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in airborne particulates collected by conventional high-volume sampling and by size fractionation. Environ. Sci. Technol.,14, 838–843.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ketseridis, G., J. Hahn, R. Jaenicke and C. Junge (1976): The organic constituents of atmospheric particulate matter. Atmos. Environ.,10, 603–610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laflamme, R.E. and R.A. Hites (1978): The global distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in recent sediments. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta,42, 289–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lao, R.C., R.S. Thomas, H. Oja and L. Dubois (1973): Application of a gas chromatographmass spectrometer-data processor combination to the analysis of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon content of airborne pollutants. Anal. Chem.,45, 908–915.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marty, J.-C., A. Saliot, P. Buat-Ménard, R. Chesselet and K.A. Hunter (1979): Relationship between the lipid compositions of marine aerosols, the sea surface, and subsurface water. J. Geophys. Res.,84, 5707–5715.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marty, J.-C. and A. Saliot (1982): Aerosols in equatorial Atlantic air:n-alkanes as a function of particle size. Nature,298, 144–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsumoto, G. and T. Hanya (1980): Organic constituents in atmospheric fallout in the Tokyo area. Atmos. Environ.,14, 1409–1419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menzel, D.W. and R.F. Vaccaro (1964): The measurement of dissolved organic and particulate carbon in seawater. Limnol. Oceanogr.,9, 138–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, G., G. Grimmer and H. Böhnke (1977): Sedimentary record of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Lake Constance. Naturwissenschaften,64, 427–431.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ohta, K., N. Handa and E. Matsumoto (1983): Trends and factors governing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon levels in Tokyo Bay sediments. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta,47, 1651–1654.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saliot, A. (1981): Natural hydrocarbons in seawater. In: Marine Organic Chemistry. ed. by E. K. Duursma and R. Dawson, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 327–374.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, J.K., R.B. Gagosian, J.K. Cochran and T.W. Trull (1983): Particle size distribution ofn-alkanes and210Pb in aerosols off the coast of Peru. Nature,304, 429–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simoneit, B.R.T. and G. Eglinton (1975): Organic matter of eolian dust and its imput to marine sediments. In: Advances in Organic Geochemistry. ed. by R. Campos and J. Goni, Enadisma, Madrid, pp. 415–430.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simoneit, B.R.T. (1977): Organic matter in eolian dust over the Atlantic Ocean. Mar. Chem.,5, 443–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simoneit, B.R.T., R. Chester and G. Eglinton (1977): Biogenic lipids in particulates from the lower atmosphere over the eastern Atlantic. Nature,267, 682–685.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simoneit, B.R.T. and M. Mazurek (1982): Organic matter of the troposphere—II. Natural back-ground of biogenic lipid matter in aerosols over the rural western United States. Atmos. Environ.,16, 2139–2159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wakeham, S.G., C. Schaffner and W. Giger (1980): Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Recent lake sediments—I. Compounds having anthropogenic origins. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta,44, 403–413.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water Research Institute, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, 464, Nagoya, Japan

    Keiichi Ohta & Nobuhiko Handa

Authors
  1. Keiichi Ohta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nobuhiko Handa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ohta, K., Handa, N. Organic components in size-separated aerosols from the western North Pacific. Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan 41, 25–32 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02109928

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02109928

Keywords

Search

Navigation