Dry-deposition of inorganic and organic nitrogen aerosols in Xiamen Bay: Fluxes, sources, and biogeochemical significance

Shanshan Wang; Jinpei Yan; Shuhui Zhao; Yao Feng; Jun Shi; Hang Yang; Qi Lin; Suqing Xu; Yang Luo; Lei Li; Miming Zhang; Liping Jiao

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.152912

Dry-deposition of inorganic and organic nitrogen aerosols in Xiamen Bay: Fluxes, sources, and biogeochemical significance

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Apr 1:815:152912. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.152912. Epub 2022 Jan 6.

Authors

Shanshan Wang¹, Jinpei Yan², Shuhui Zhao³, Yao Feng¹, Jun Shi¹, Hang Yang¹, Qi Lin¹, Suqing Xu¹, Yang Luo⁴, Lei Li⁵, Miming Zhang¹, Liping Jiao¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Global Change and Marine Atmospheric Chemistry, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China; Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China.
² Key Laboratory of Global Change and Marine Atmospheric Chemistry, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China; Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China. Electronic address: jpyan@tio.org.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Global Change and Marine Atmospheric Chemistry, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China; Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China. Electronic address: shzhao@tio.org.cn.
⁴ Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China.
⁵ Institute of Mass Spectrometer and Atmospheric Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.

PMID: 34998747
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.152912

Abstract

Increased dry deposition of nitrogen aerosols (aerosol-N) as a result of anthropogenic emissions has caused large negative impacts on marine ecosystems. We monitored the number concentrations and sizes of inorganic nitrogen aerosols (aerosol-IN: NH₄⁺ and NO₃^-) and organic nitrogen aerosols (aerosol-ON: methylamine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine, ethylamine, diethylamine, and triethylamine) by single-particle aerosol mass spectrometry (SPAMS) during the warm season (WS) and cold season (CS) of 2013 and 2015 in Xiamen Bay. The mean hourly number concentration of aerosol-IN (874/h) overwhelmed that of aerosol-ON (103/h), accounting for 83.9 ± 16.1% of aerosol-N. More than 90% of aerosol-N was concentrated in the condensation mode (0.1-0.5 μm) and droplet mode (0.5-2.0 μm). Aerosol-IN was the main contributor (80.1-94.2%) to aerosol-N deposition. New production potentially supported by the ocean's external nitrogen supply provided aerosol-N input of 11.51-11.96 g C m^-2 yr^-1, which contributed 17.5-18.2% of total new production in the southern East China Sea. Four potential sources of aerosol-N were identified based on the results of positive matrix factorization analysis, including secondary formation (F1), biogenic source (F2), sea spray, soil dust, biomass burning (F3), and anthropogenic sources (F4). Aerosol-N concentrations in Xiamen Bay were mainly affected by the ocean air masses during the WS and inland air masses during the CS. The percentages of aerosol-N at each backward trajectory cluster showed that the inland air masses brought more aerosol-IN emitted from biomass burning, soil dust, and secondary formation sources, whereas the ocean air masses brought more aerosol-ON emitted from a marine biogenic source into Xiamen Bay. This study provides an example of determining the number concentrations and sizes of IN and ON in aerosols by SPAMS, and helps us further understand the dry deposition and sources of IN and ON in aerosols in Xiamen Bay.

Keywords: Aerosol-N deposition; Concentration; Potential source location; Size; Source contribution.

MeSH terms

Aerosols / analysis
Air Pollutants* / analysis
Bays
Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring
Nitrogen
Particulate Matter / analysis
Seasons

Substances

Aerosols
Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter
Nitrogen