Dimethyl sulfide chemistry over the industrial era: comparison of key oxidation mechanisms and long-term observations

Jongebloed, Ursula A.; Chalif, Jacob I.; Tashmim, Linia; Porter, William C.; Bates, Kelvin H.; Chen, Qianjie; Osterberg, Erich C.; Koffman, Bess G.; Cole-Dai, Jihong; Winski, Dominic A.; Ferris, David G.; Kreutz, Karl J.; Wake, Cameron P.; Alexander, Becky

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4083-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 7

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4083-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4083-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 7

Research article

|

10 Apr 2025

Research article |

| 10 Apr 2025

Dimethyl sulfide chemistry over the industrial era: comparison of key oxidation mechanisms and long-term observations

Ursula A. Jongebloed, Jacob I. Chalif, Linia Tashmim, William C. Porter, Kelvin H. Bates, Qianjie Chen, Erich C. Osterberg, Bess G. Koffman, Jihong Cole-Dai, Dominic A. Winski, David G. Ferris, Karl J. Kreutz, Cameron P. Wake, and Becky Alexander

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4083-2025-supplement

Data sets

Ice core methanesulfonic acid from the Begguya (Mount Hunter) plateau, Denali National Park, Alaska, 2013 Jacob Chalif et al. https://doi.org/10.18739/A2Q814T9K

Methanesulfonic acid measurements from a Greenland ice core (1850-2006) Ursula Jongebloed et al. https://doi.org/10.18739/A2WW7717K

Sulfur isotopes of sulfate measurements from a Greenland ice core (1200-1850) and volcanic gas measurements from various volcanoes and hot springs in Iceland Ursula Jongebloed et al. https://doi.org/10.18739/A2N873162

Sulfur isotopes of sulfate measurements from a Greenland ice core (1850-2006) Ursula Jongebloed et al. https://doi.org/10.18739/A26T0GX7K

Model code and software

GEOS-Chem version 12.9.3 The International GEOS-Chem User Community https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3974569

GEOS-Chem version 13.2.1 The International GEOS-Chem User Community https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5500717

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Short summary

Marine phytoplankton emit dimethyl sulfide (DMS), which forms methanesulfonic acid (MSA) and sulfate. MSA concentrations in ice cores decreased over the industrial era, which has been attributed to pollution-driven changes in DMS chemistry. We use a model to investigate DMS chemistry compared to observations of DMS, MSA, and sulfate. We find that modeled DMS, MSA, and sulfate are influenced by pollution-sensitive oxidant concentrations, characterization of DMS chemistry, and other variables.