This study presents temporal variations in concentrations of chlorophyll a (Chl a), particulate and dissolved dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSPp and DMSPd) in the sea ice and underlying water column in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago during the spring of 2010 and 2011. During both years, bottom ice Chl a, DMSPp and DMSPd concentrations were high (up to 1328 mg L 21, 15,082 nmol L 21, and 6110 nmol L 21 , respectively) in May and decreased thereafter. The release of bottom ice algae and DMSPp in the water column was gradual in 2010 and rapid (8 days) in 2011. Bottom brine drainage during the presnowmelt period in 2010 and a rapid loss of the snow cover in 2011 coinciding with rain events explain most of the difference between the 2 years. During both years, less than 13% of the DMSPd lost from the ice was detected in the water column, suggesting a rapid microbial consumption. An under-ice diatom bloom developed in both years. In 2010, the bloom was dominated by centric diatoms while in 2011 pennates dominated, likely reflecting seeding by ice algae following the faster snowmelt progression induced by rainfall events in 2011. Both under-ice blooms were associated with high DMSPp concentrations (up to 185 nmol L 21 ), but pennate diatoms showed DMSPp/Chl a ratios twice higher than centrics. These results highlight the key role of snowmelt and precipitation on the temporal pattern of ice-DMSP release to the water column and on the timing, taxonomic composition, and DMSP content of phytoplankton under-ice blooms in the Arctic.

Measurements of ocean surface and atmospheric dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and particle size distributions were made in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago during the fall of 2007 and the late summer of 2008 aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen. Nucleation‐mode particles were observed during the 2008 cruise, which took place in the eastern Arctic from August to September when the atmosphere and ocean were more photo‐active as compared to the October 2007 transit in the Beaufort Sea during which no nucleation/growth events were observed. The observed nucleation periods in 2008 coincided with high atmospheric and ocean surface DMS concentrations, suggesting that the particles originated from marine biogenic sources. An aerosol microphysics box model was used to simulate nucleation given the measured conditions in the marine boundary layer. Although other sources may have contributed, we find that the newly formed particles can be accounted for by a marine biogenic DMS source for combinations of the following parameters: [OH] ≥ 3 × 105 molecules cm−3, DMS mixing ratio is ≥ 100 pptv, the activation coefficient is ≤ 10−7 and the background particle concentration is ≤ 100 cm−3.

Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and its oxidation products, which have been proposed to provide a climate feedback mechanism by affecting aerosol and cloud radiative properties, were measured on board the Canadian Coast Guard ship Amundsen in sampling campaigns in the Arctic in the fall of 2007 and 2008. DMS flux was calculated based on the surface water measurements and yielded 0.1–2.6 μmol m−2 d−1 along the Northwest Passage in 2007 and 0.2–1.3 μmol m−2 d−1 along Baffin Bay in 2008. DMS oxidation products, sulfur dioxide (SO2), methane sulfonic acid (MSA), and sulfate in aerosols were also measured. The amounts of biogenic SO2 and sulfate were approximated using stable isotope apportionment techniques. Calculating the threshold amount of SO2 needed for significant new particle formation from the formulation by Pirjola et al. (1999), the study suggests that instances of elevated biogenic SO2 concentrations (between 8 and 9 September 2008) derived using conservative assumptions may have been sufficient to form new aerosols in clean air conditions in the Arctic region.

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