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Journal article
The Interplay Between Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS) and Methane (CH4) in a Coral Reef Ecosystem
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol.9, 910441
20/06/2022
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Abstract
Earth’s Radiation Budget is partly dictated by the fragile and complex balance between biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) and greenhouse gases (GHGs), which have the potential to impose cooling or warming once emitted to the atmosphere. Whilst methane (CH4) is strictly associated with global warming due to its solar-radiation absorbing properties, dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is generally considered a cooling gas through the light scattering properties of its atmospheric oxidation products. However, DMS may also partially contribute to the Earth’s warming through a small portion of it being degraded to CH4 in the water column. Coral reefs emit both DMS and CH4 but they have not previously been simultaneously measured. Here, we report DMS and CH4 fluxes as well as aerosol particle counts at Heron Island, southern Great Barrier Reef, during the austral summer of 2016. Sea-to-air DMS and CH4 fluxes were on average 24.9 ± 1.81 and 1.36 ± 0.11 µmol m-2 d-1, whilst intermediate (< 0.5-2.5 um) and large (> 2.5 um) particle number concentrations averaged 5.51 x 106 ± 1.73 x 105 m-3 and 1.15 x 106 ± 4.63 x 104 m-3, respectively. Positive correlations were found between DMS emissions and the abundance of intermediate (R2 = 0.1669, p < 0.001, n = 93) and large (R2 = 0.0869, p = 0.004, n = 93) aerosol particles, suggesting that DMS sea-to-air emissions significantly contribute to the growth of existing particles to the measured size ranges at the Heron Island lagoon. Additionally, a strong positive correlation was found between DMS and CH4 fluxes (R2 = 0.7526, p < 0.00001, n = 93), suggesting that the emission of these volatile compounds from coral reefs is closely linked. The slope of the regression between DMS and CH4 suggests that CH4 emissions at the Heron Island lagoon represent 5% of that of DMS, which is consistent with the average sea-to-air fluxes reported in this study (i.e. 24.9 ± 1.81 µmol m-2 d-1 for DMS and 1.36 ± 0.11 for CH4). These findings provide new insights on the complexity of BVOC and GHG emissions in coral reef systems and their potential role in climate regulation.
Details
- Title
- The Interplay Between Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS) and Methane (CH4) in a Coral Reef Ecosystem
- Creators
- Elisabeth S. M. Deschaseaux - Southern Cross UniversityHilton B. Swan - Southern Cross UniversityDamien T. Maher - Southern Cross UniversityGraham B. Jones - Southern Cross UniversityKai G. Schulz - Southern Cross UniversityEdwin P. Koveke - Kumamoto UniversityKei Toda - Kumamoto UniversityBradley D. Eyre - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol.9, 910441
- Comment
- We would like to thank the staff at the Heron Island Research Station for their assistance.
- Publisher
- Frontiers Research Foundation
- Grant note
- This research was funded by the ARC Discovery Project grants DP150102092 (recipient BE), “Dissolution of calcium carbonate in sediments in an acidifying ocean” and DP150101649 (recipient GJ), “The Great Barrier Reef as a significant source of climatically relevant aerosol particles”.
- Identifiers
- 991013032681902368
- Copyright
- © 2022 Deschaseaux, Swan, Maher, Jones, Schulz, Koveke, Toda and Eyre. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article