Abstract. A database of 15,617 point measurements of dimethylsulfide (DMS) in surface waters along with lesser amounts of data for aqueous and particulate dirhethylsulfoniopropionate concentration, chlorophyll concentration, sea surface salinity and temperature, and wind speed has been assembled. The database was processed to create a series of climatological annual and monthly 1øxl ø latitude-longitude squares of data. The results were compared to published fields of geophysical and biological parameters. No significant correlation was found between DMS and these parameters, and no simple algorithm could be found to create monthly fields of sea surface DMS concentration based on these parameters. Instead, an annual map of sea surface DMS was produced using an algorithm similar to that employed by Conkright et al. [1994]. In this approach, a first-guess field of DMS sea surface concentration measurements is created and then a correction to this field is generated based on actual measurements. Monthly sea surface grids of DMS were obtained using a similar scheme, but the sparsity of DMS measurements made the method difficult to implement. A scheme was used which projected actual data into months of the year where no data were otherwise present.

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Production and decomposition of DMSP and DMS in a microbial food web were investigated by means of a 5‐d incubation of prescreened seawater samples (<1, <10, <100 µm) from northwestern Mediterranean coastal waters. The major goal of size fractionation was to create predator‐free compartments. Aplastidic flagellates, plastidic nanoflagellates (<10 µm), or both contributed to the particulate DMSP pool, but DMSP was found to be predominantly associated with the populations of small dinoflagellates (~20 µm, Prorocentrum sp., Gymnodinium sp.). Particulate‐DMSP values and free‐cell counts in the < 100‐µm fraction, however, were not significantly correlated. This result reflects the grazing pressure of ciliates on the DMSP carriers since significant amounts of DMSP can be stored temporarily by the microzooplanktonic predators. The initial level of soluble DMSP was 12% of the total DMSP pool of seawater and less than 2% at the end of the experiment. This result suggests that free DMSP is not produced in significant amounts by the predator‐prey interactions in the microbial food web. Conversely, DMS was shown to be excreted following ciliate grazing on dinoflagellates and DMSP decomposition. Mass balance between DMSP and DMS was achieved after a time lag of ~1.5 d. We suggest that DMSP decomposition into DMS in the marine environment can occur through microplanktonic catabolism by two pathways: enzymatic cleavage and formation of an intermediate compound after demethylation. Overall, our work indicates that microzooplankton grazing is significant in DMS release in open‐ocean, surface waters.