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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Extracting Uranium from Seawater: Promising AI Series Adsorbents

A new series of adsorbents (AI10 through AI17) were successfully developed at ORNL by radiation induced graft polymerization (RIGP) of acrylonitrile (AN) and vinylphosphonic acid (VPA) (at different mole to mole ratios) onto high surface area polyethylene fiber, with high degrees of grafting (DOG) varying from 110 to 300%. The grafted nitrile groups were converted to amidoxime groups by reaction with 5 wt % hydroxylamine at 80 °C for 72 h. The amidoximated adsorbents were then conditioned with 0.44 M KOH at 80 °C followed by screening at ORNL with prescreening brine spiked with 8 ppm uranium. Uranium adsorption capacities in prescreening ranged from 171 to 187 g-U/kg-ads irrespective of percent DOG. The performance of the adsorbents with respect to uranium adsorption in natural seawater was also investigated using flow-throughcolumn testing at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Three hours of KOH conditioning led to higher uranium uptake than 1 h of conditioning. The adsorbent AI11, containing AN and VPA at the mole ratio of 3.52, emerged as the potential candidate for the highest uranium adsorption (3.35 g-U/kg-ads.) after 56 days of exposure in seawater flow-through-columns. The rate of vanadium adsorption over uranium linearly increased throughout the 56 days of exposure. The total mass of vanadium uptake was ~5 times greater than uranium after 56 days.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Alternative Alkaline Conditioning of Amidoxime Based Adsorbent for Uranium Extraction from Seawater

Alkaline conditioning of the amidoxime based adsorbents is a significant step in the preparation of the adsorbent for uranium uptake from seawater. The effects of various alkaline conditioning parameters such as the type of alkaline reagent, reaction temperature, and reaction time were investigated with respect to uranium adsorption capacity from simulated seawater (spiked with 8 ppm uranium) and natural seawater (from Sequim Bay, WA). An adsorbent (AF1) was prepared at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory by radiation-induced graft polymerization (RIGP) with acrylonitrile and itaconic acid onto high-surface-area polyethylene fibers. For the AF1 adsorbent, sodium hydroxide emerged as a better reagent for alkaline conditioning over potassium hydroxide, which has typically been used in previous studies, because of higher uranium uptake capacity and lower cost over the other candidate alkaline reagents investigated in this study. Use of sodium hydroxide in place of potassium hydroxide is shown to result in a 21-30% decrease in the cost of uranium recovery.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Uranium recovery from seawater: development of fiber adsorbents prepared via atom-transfer radical polymerization

We developed a novel adsorbent preparation method using atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) combined with radiation-induced graft polymerization (RIGP) in order to synthesize an adsorbent for uranium recovery from seawater. Furthermore, the ATRP method allowed a much higher degree of grafting on the adsorbent fibers (595 2818%) than that allowed by RIGP alone. The adsorbents were prepared with varied composition of amidoxime groups and hydrophilic acrylate groups. The successful preparation revealed that both ligand density and hydrophilicity were critical for optimal performance of the adsorbents. Adsorbents synthesized in this study showed a relatively high performance (141 179 mg/g at 49 62 % adsorption) in laboratory screening tests using a uranium concentration of ~6 ppm. This performance is much higher than that of known commercial adsorbents. However, actual seawater experiment showed impeded performance compared to the recently reported high-surface-area-fiber adsorbents, due to slow adsorption kinetics. The impeded performance motivated an investigation of the effect of hydrophilic block addition on the graft chain terminus. The addition of hydrophilic block on the graft chain terminus nearly doubled the uranium adsorption capacity in seawater, from 1.56 mg/g to 3.02 mg/g. Our investigation revealed the importance of polymer chain conformation, in addition to ligand and hydrophilic group ratio, for advanced adsorbent synthesis for uranium recovery from seawater.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Efficient Unassisted Overall Photocatalytic Seawater Splitting on GaN-Based Nanowire Arrays

Large-scale, clean, efficient and sustainable hydrogen production from water is one of the major goal in solar-to-fuel conversion as the sun and water represent the two most abundant and geographically-balanced free resources available on Earth. Considering that most of the liquid water available on Earth’s surface is present in the form of seawater, H 2 generation from seawater splitting is highly desirable for large-scale practical and economical application. Herein, we report on the first demonstration of direct efficient overall solar-driven seawater splitting on p-GaN-based nanowire-arrays without any external bias or sacrificial agents from various types of simulated seawater solutions. As a result, a stable solar-to-hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiency of 1.9% was obtained under concentrated irradiation, demonstrating its possible utilization for large-scale, environmental-friendly and sustainable generation of clean solar fuel.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Towards understanding KOH conditioning of amidoxime-based oolymer adsorbents for sequestering uranium from seawater

Conditioning of polymer fiber adsorbents grafted with amidoxime and carboxylic acid groups is necessary to make the materials hydrophilic for sequestering uranium from seawater. In this paper, spectroscopic techniques were employed to study the effectiveness of the traditional KOH conditioning method (2.5% KOH at 80⁰C) on recently developed high-surface-area amidoxime-based polymer fiber adsorbents developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. FTIR spectra reveal that the KOH conditioning process removes the proton from the carboxylic acids and also converts the amidoxime groups to carboxylate groups in the adsorbent. With prolonged KOH treatment (>1 hr) at 80⁰C, physical damage to the adsorbent material occurs which can lead to a significant reduction in the adsorbent's uranium adsorption capability in real seawater during extended exposure times (>21 days). The physical damage to the adsorbent can be minimized by lowering KOH conditioning temperature. For the high-surface-area amidoxime-based adsorbents, 20 min of conditioning in 2.5% KOH at 80⁰C or 1 hr of conditioning in 2.5% KOH at 60⁰C appears sufficient to achieve de-protonation of the carboxylic acid with minimal harmful effects to the adsorbent material. Lastly, the use of NaOH instead of KOH can also reduce the cost of the base treatment process required for conditioning the amidoxime-based sorbents with minimal loss of adsorption capacity (≤7%).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Efficient Functionalization of Polyethylene Fibers for the Uranium Extraction from Seawater through Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Brush-on-brush structures are proposed as one method to overcome support effects in grafted polymers. Utilizing glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) grafted on polyethylene (PE) fibers using radiation-induced graft polymerization (RIGP) provides a hydrophilic surface on the hydrophobic PE. When integrated with atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), the grafting of acrylonitrile (AN) and hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) can be controlled and manipulated more easily than with RIGP. Poly(acrylonitrile)-co-poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate) chains were grown via ATRP on PE-GMA fibers to generate an adsorbent for the extraction of uranium from seawater. The prepared adsorbents in this study demonstrated promise (159.9 g- U/kg of adsorbent) in laboratory screening tests using a high uranium concentration brine and 1.24 g-U/Kg of adsorbent in the filtered natural seawater in 21-days. The modest capacity in 21- days exceeds previous efforts to generate brush-on-brush adsorbents by ATRP while manipulating the apparent surface hydrophilicity of the trunk material (PE).

Neti, Venkata S.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Uranium recovery from seawater using amidoxime-based braided polymers synthesized from acrylic fibers

Global demand for nuclear energy is expected to rise in the coming decades. To meet these growing needs, new uranium resources must be explored. One of the potential alternatives to traditional uranium mining is oceanic uranium. The capture and recovery of uranium from the ocean has been under investigation for some time, with many recent studies focused on amidoxime based adsorbents. These adsorbents while able to achieve high uranium recovery capacities are, nevertheless, expensive to produce and adsorb a significant amount of hard to remove vanadium. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the adsorption performance of amidoxime based polymer braids synthesized from acrylic fibers which are designed to significantly cut polymer synthesis and conditioning costs. Adsorption experiments were performed in a recirculating raceway flume system at environmental conditions, approximately 10.8 oC, with 40-micron prefiltered seawater over 28 days for small and large sized LCW polymer braids. For both braid sizes, the adsorption of vanadium was far lower on the LCW materials than on Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s amidoxime based AF1 and AI8 small braids, with the LCW small braids outperforming both materials with respect to uranium adsorption under similar conditions. Adsorption modeling was used to simulate the performance at higher temperatures based on 20oC experiments previously performed with similar materials. Simulation results indicated that the small LCW braids would have a less significant advantage with respect to uranium adsorption over both AF1 and AI8 at 20oC and adsorb slightly less uranium than AF1 at 31oC. Vanadium adsorption by LCW small braids was less than one third of vanadium adsorption by either AF1 or AI8 for all temperatures. This behavior indicates that the LCW materials are able to achieve comparable uranium adsorption to other amidoxime adsorbents previously developed, while being cheaper to produce and adsorbing significantly less vanadium.

Wiechert, Alexander I.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Delivery of a Solar-Powered Forward Osmosis Seawater Desalination Plant: Trevi’s 500 m3/day Zero-Carbon FO Seawater Desalination Plant at NELHA

This paper presents an account of Trevi’s delivery of a 500 m3/day solar powered forward osmosis (FO) seawater desalination plant at the Ocean Science and Technology Park of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA). The project aimed to demonstrate the viability of solar thermal-powered desalination for agricultural applications through the integration of a 2MW micro-dish solar thermal array with a state-of-the-art FO system. Highlighted in the paper are the three distinct project phases; Planning and Design, System Construction, Installation & Testing followed finally by System Operation and Optimization. Results and decisions which led to the final plant design will be shared, highlighting how Trevi Systems succeeded in producing a zero-carbon FO seawater desalination plant with a projected Levelized Cost of Water (LCOW) estimate competitive with existing carbon-intensive RO technologies (based on some assumptions and the cost of heat which is required for FO.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Genome sequence of the orange-pigmented seawater bacterium Owenweeksia hongkongensis type strain (UST20020801 T )

Owenweeksia hongkongensis Lau et al. 2005 is the sole member of the monospecific genus Owenweeksia in the family Cryomorphaceae, a poorly characterized family at the genome level thus far. This family comprises seven genera within the class Flavobacteria. Family members are known to be psychrotolerant, rod-shaped and orange pigmented (β-carotene), typical for Flavobacteria. For growth, seawater and complex organic nutrients are necessary. The genome of O. hongkongensis UST20020801 T is only the second genome of a member of the family Cryomorphaceae whose sequence has been deciphered. Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the complete genome sequence and annotation. The 4,000,057 bp long chromosome with its 3,518 protein-coding and 45 RNA genes is a part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea project.

orange-pigmented sea water↗
DOE OSTI2018

Identifying key factors of the seawater intrusion model of Dagu river basin, Jiaozhou Bay

Highlights: • The key factors of seawater intrusion model is identified by mutual entropy analysis. • Precipitation rate and groundwater pumping are the key factors for seawater intrusion. • The hydraulic conductivity of zone 1 has significant influence on seawater intrusion. Seawater intrusion is a complex groundwater - seawater interaction process, and it is influenced by many factors from ground surface to underground, from groundwater to seawater. Generally, for seawater intrusion model, some model parameters and boundary conditions are always specified by model users’ personal experiences or literature's reference value. The defective model would damage the groundwater management for controlling and preventing seawater intrusion when making decisions are based on this model. In order to improve the reliability of seawater intrusion model, the influences of model inputs on output should be identified prior at optimizing model inputs. Dagu river basin, Jiaozhou Bay is one of the most serious areas of seawater intrusion in China, and it is chosen as the study area in this study. The seawater intrusion model of Dagu river basin is built based on a general program SEAWAT4. The key influence factors of model output are analyzed by two sensitivity analysis methods, i.e., stepwise regression and mutual entropy. The results demonstrated that the most important influence factors which have largest sensitivities to groundwater Cl{sup -} concentration are the precipitation rate and groundwater pumping in agriculture area. In addition, the hydraulic conductivity of zone 1 has a non-negligible influence on seawater intrusion process. Stepwise regression analysis is capable of identifying most important influence factor, and it can’t handle complicated nonlinear input-output relationship. Mutual entropy analysis is reliable for identifying the influence factors for complex seawater intrusion model.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Preparation of Pt deposited nanotubular TiO{sub 2} as cathodes for enhanced photoelectrochemical hydrogen production using seawater electrolytes

The purpose of this study was to develop effective cathodes to increase the production of hydrogen and use the seawater, an abundant resource in the earth as the electrolyte in photoelectrochemical systems. In order to fabricate the Pt/TiO{sub 2} cathodes, various contents of the Pt precursor (0-0.4 wt%) deposited by the electrodeposition method were used. On the basis of the hydrogen evolution rate, 0.2 wt% Pt/TiO{sub 2} was observed to exhibit the best performance among the various Pt/TiO{sub 2} cathodes with the natural seawater and two concentrated seawater electrolytes obtained from single (nanofiltration) and combined membrane (nanofiltration and reverse osmosis) processes. The surface characterizations exhibited that crystal structures and morphological properties of Pt and TiO{sub 2} found the results of XRD pattern and SEM/TEM images, respectively. - Graphical abstract: On the basis of photoelectrochemical hydrogen production, 0.2 wt% Pt/TiO{sub 2} was observed to exhibit the best performance among the various Pt/TIO{sub 2} cathodes with natural seawater. In comparison of hydrogen evolution rate with various seawater electrolytes, 0.2 wt% Pt/TiO{sub 2} was found to show the better performance as cathode with the concentrated seawater electrolytes obtained from membrane. Highlights: > Pt deposited TiO{sub 2} electrodes are used as cathode in PEC H{sub 2} production. > Natural and concentrated seawater by membranes are used as electrolytes in PEC. > Pt/TiO{sub 2} shows a good performance as cathode with seawater electrolytes. > H{sub 2} evolution rate increases with more concentrated seawater electrolyte. > Highly saline seawater is useful resource for H{sub 2} production.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Adsorbent Alkali Conditioning for Uranium Adsorption from Seawater. Adsorbent Performance and Technology Cost Evaluation

The Fuel Resources program of the Fuel Cycle Research and Development program of the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) is focused on identifying and implementing actions to assure that nuclear fuel resources are available in the United States. An immense source of uranium is seawater, which contains an estimated amount of 4.5 billion tonnes of dissolved uranium. This unconventional resource can provide a price cap and ensure centuries of uranium supply for future nuclear energy production. NE initiated a multidisciplinary program with participants from national laboratories, universities, and research institutes to enable technical breakthroughs related to uranium recovery from seawater. The goal is to develop advanced adsorbents to reduce the seawater uranium recovery technology cost and uncertainties. Under this program, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed a new amidoxime-based adsorbent of high surface area, which tripled the uranium capacity of leading Japanese adsorbents. Parallel efforts have been focused on the optimization of the physicochemical and operating parameters used during the preparation of the adsorbent for deployment. A set of parameters that need to be optimized are related to the conditioning of the adsorbent with alkali solution, which is necessary prior to adsorbent deployment. Previous work indicated that alkali-conditioning parameters significantly affect the adsorbent performance. Initiated in 2014, this study had as a goal to determine optimal parameters such as base type and concentration, temperature, and duration of conditioning that maximize the uranium adsorption performance of amidoxime functionalized adsorbent, while keeping the cost of uranium production low. After base-treatment at various conditions, samples of adsorbent developed at ORNL were tested in this study with batch simulated seawater solution of 8-ppm uranium concentration, batch seawater spiked with uranium nitrate at 75-100 ppb uranium, and continuous-flow natural seawater at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and elemental analysis were used to characterize the adsorbent at different stages of adsorbent preparation and treatment. The study can be divided into two parts: (A) investigation of optimal parameters for KOH adsorbent conditioning and (B) investigation of other possible agents for alkali conditioning, including cost analysis on the basis of uranium production. In the first part of the study, tests with simulated seawater containing 8 ppm uranium showed that the uranium adsorption capacity increased with an increase in the KOH concentration and conditioning time and temperature at each of the KOH concentrations used. FTIR and solid state NMR studies indicated that KOH conditioning converts the amidoxime functional groups into more hydrophilic carboxylate. The longer the KOH conditioning time, up to three hours, the higher was the loading capacity from the simulated seawater solution which is composed of only uranyl, sodium, chloride, and carbonate ions. Marine testing with natural seawater, on the other hand, showed that the uranium adsorption capacity of the adsorbent increased with KOH conditioning temperature, and gradually decreased with increasing KOH conditioning time from one hour to three hours at 80 C. This behavior is due to the conversion of amidoxime to carboxylate. The carboxylate groups are needed to increase the hydrophilicity of the adsorbent; however, conversion of a significant amount of amidoxime to carboxylate leads to loss in selectivity toward uranyl ions. Thus, there is an optimum KOH conditioning time for each temperature at which an optimum ratio between amidoxime and carboxylate is reached. For the case of base conditioning with 0.44 M KOH at 80 C, the optimal conditioning time is 1 hour, with respect to the highest uranium loading capacity from natural seawater. Uptake of other metal ions such as V, Fe, and Cu follows the same trend as that of uranium. Also, the uptake of Ca, Mg, and Zn ions increased with increasing KOH conditioning time, probably due to formation of more carboxylates, which leads to conversion of uranium-selective binding sites to less selective sites. In the second part of the study, inorganic based reagents such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 ), cesium hydroxide (CsOH), as well as organic based reagents such as ammonium hydroxide (AOH), tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH), tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH), triethylmethylammonium hydroxide (TEMAOH), tetrapropylammonium hydroxide (TPAOH) and tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBAOH), in addition to KOH, were used for alkaline conditioning. NaOH has emerged as a better reagent for alkaline conditioning of amidoxime-based adsorbent because of higher uranium uptake capacity, higher uranium uptake selectivity ...

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Rapid determination of radiostrontium in seawater samples

A new method for the determination of radiostrontium in seawater samples has been developed at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) that allows rapid preconcentration and separation of strontium and yttrium isotopes in seawater samples for measurement. The new SRNL method employs a novel and effective pre-concentration step that utilizes a blend of calcium phosphate with iron hydroxide to collect both strontium and yttrium rapidly from the seawater matrix with enhanced chemical yields. The pre-concentration steps, in combination with rapid Sr Resin and DGA Resin cartridge separation options using vacuum box technology, allow seawater samples up to 10 liters to be analyzed. The total 89 Sr + 90 Sr activity may be determined by gas flow proportional counting and recounted after ingrowth of 90 Y to differentiate 89 Sr from 90 Sr. Gas flow proportional counting provides a lower method detection limit than liquid scintillation or Cerenkov counting and allows simultaneous counting of samples. Simultaneous counting allows for longer count times and lower method detection limits without handling very large aliquots of seawater. Seawater samples up to 6 liters may be analyzed using Sr Resin for 89 Sr and 90 Sr with a Minimum Detectable Activity (MDA) of 1-10 mBq/L, depending on count times. Seawater samples up to 10 liters may be analyzed for 90 Sr using a DGA Resin method via collection and purification of 90 Y only. If 89 Sr and other fission products are present, then 91 Y (beta energy 1.55 MeV, 58.5 day half-life) is also likely to be present. 91 Y interferes with attempts to collect 90 Y directly from the seawater sample without initial purification of Sr isotopes first and 90 Y ingrowth. The DGA Resin option can be used to determine 90 Sr, and if 91 Y is also present, an ingrowth option with using DGA Resin again to collect 90 Y can be performed. An MDA for 90 Sr of <1 mBq/L for an 8 hour count may be obtained using 10 liter seawater sample aliquots.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2016

Rare earth element behavior during groundwater–seawater mixing along the Kona Coast of Hawaii

Groundwater and seawater samples were collected from nearshore wells and offshore along the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii to investigate rare earth element (REE) behavior in local subterranean estuaries. Previously we saw that submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is the predominant flux of terrestrial waters to the coastal ocean along the arid Kona Coast of Hawaii. Groundwater and seawater samples were filtered through 0.45 μm and 0.02 μm pore-size filters to evaluate the importance of colloidal and soluble (i.e., truly dissolved ionic species and/or low molecular weight [LMW] colloids) fractions of the REEs in the local subterranean estuaries. Mixing experiments using groundwater collected immediately down gradient from a wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) proximal to the Kaloko-Hanokohau National Historic Park, and more “pristine” groundwater from a well constructed in a lava tube at Kiholo Bay, were conducted with local seawater to study the effect of solution composition (i.e., pH, salinity) on the concentrations and fractionation behavior of the REEs as groundwater mixes with seawater in Kona Coast subterranean estuaries. The mixed waters were also filtered through 0.45 or 0.02 μm filters to ascertain the behavior of colloidal and soluble fractions of the REEs across the salinity gradient in each mixing experiment. Concentrations of the REEs were statistically identical (two-tailed Student t-test, 95% confidence) between the sequentially filtered sample aliquots, indicating that the REEs occur as dissolved ionic species and/or LMW colloids in Kona Coast groundwaters. The mixing experiments revealed that the REEs are released to solution from suspended particles or colloids when Kona Coast groundwater waters mix with local seawater. The order of release that accompanies increasing pH and salinity follows light REE (LREE) > middle REE (MREE) > heavy REE (HREE). Release of REEs in the mixing experiments is driven by decreases in the free metal ion activity in solution and the concomitant increase in the amount of each REE that occurs in solution as dicarbonato complexes [i.e., Ln(CO 3 ) 2 - ] as pH increases across the salinity gradient. Input-normalized REE patterns of Kona Coast groundwater and coastal seawater are nearly identical and relatively flat compared to North Pacific seawater, indicating that SGD is the chief source of these trace elements to the ocean along the Kona Coast. Additionally, REE concentrations of the coastal seawater are between 10 and 50 times higher than previously reported open-ocean seawater values from the North Pacific, further demonstrating the importance of SGD fluxes of REEs to these coastal waters. Altogether, these observations indicate that large-scale removal of REEs, which characterizes the behavior of REEs in the low salinity reaches of many surface estuaries, is not a feature of the subterranean estuary along the Kona Coast. A large positive gadolinium (Gd) anomaly characterizes groundwater from the vicinity of the WWTF. The positive Gd anomaly can be traced to the coastal ocean, providing further evidence of the impact of SGD on the coastal waters. Estimates of the SGD fluxes of the REEs to the coastal ocean along the Kona Coast (i.e., 1.3–2.6 mmol Nd day -1 ) are similar to recent estimates of SGD fluxes of REEs along Florida’s east coast and to Rhode Island Sound, all of which points to the importance of SGD as significant flux of REEs to the coastal ocean.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Predictability of Seawater DMS During the North Atlantic Aerosol and Marine Ecosystem Study (NAAMES)

This work presents an overview of a unique set of surface ocean dimethylsulfide (DMS) measurements from four shipboard field campaigns conducted during the North Atlantic Aerosol and Marine Ecosystem Study (NAAMES) project. Variations in surface seawater DMS are discussed in relation to biological and physical observations. Results are considered at a range of timescales (seasons to days) and spatial scales (regional to sub-mesoscale). Elevated DMS concentrations are generally associated with greater biological productivity, although chlorophyll a (Chl) only explains a small fraction of the DMS variability (15%). Physical factors that determine the location of oceanic temperature fronts and depth of vertical mixing have an important influence on seawater DMS concentrations during all seasons. The interplay of biomass and physics influences DMS concentrations at regional/seasonal scales and at smaller spatial and shorter temporal scales. Seawater DMS measurements are compared with the global seawater DMS climatology and predictions made using a recently published algorithm and by a neural network model. The climatology is successful at capturing the seasonal progression in average seawater DMS, but does not reproduce the shorter spatial/temporal scale variability. The input terms common to the algorithm and neural network approaches are biological (Chl) and physical (mixed layer depth, photosynthetically active radiation, seawater temperature). Both models predict the seasonal North Atlantic average seawater DMS trends better than the climatology. However, DMS concentrations tend to be under-predicted and the episodic occurrence of higher DMS concentrations is poorly predicted. The choice of climatological seawater DMS product makes a substantial impact on the estimated DMS flux into the North Atlantic atmosphere. These results suggest that additional input terms are needed to improve the predictive capability of current state-of-the-art approaches to estimating seawater DMS.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗