Constraining aerosol deposition over the global ocean

Constraining aerosol deposition over the global ocean | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Constraining aerosol deposition over the global ocean Yipeng He, David Kadko, Mark Stephens, Michael Sheridan, Clifton Buck, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4080947/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Sep, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Geoscience → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Aerosols significantly influence climate by modifying Earth’s radiative balance and marine biogeochemical cycles. However, accurate quantification of aerosol deposition onto ocean surfaces remains challenging, due to the limited direct observations over oceanic regions. Here, to address this observational gap, we use a newly developed method based on simultaneous measurements of the cosmogenic radiotracer beryllium-7 (7Be) in seawater and the atmosphere. 7Be is naturally produced in the atmosphere, rapidly attaches to submicron aerosol particles, and is deposited onto the ocean surface through wet and dry processes, making it a direct tracer for quantifying aerosol deposition. We combine previous measurements from cruises in the North Pacific, equatorial Pacific, North Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans with new measurements from the South Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans to derive a new aerosol deposition parameterization across the global ocean. Compared with current parameterizations used in the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model, we find aerosol deposition rates over the global ocean have been underestimated by 39 ± 23%, consequently overestimating aerosol lifetime over the oceans by an average of 69 ± 92%. Our observationally constrained results suggest that aerosol processes are more dynamic than previously estimated, with important implications on understanding aerosol-driven climate effects and marine biogeochemical processes globally. Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Marine chemistry Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental chemistry/Geochemistry Aerosols dry and wet deposition beryllium-7 climate biogeochemical cycle chemical transport model Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SI20250607.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Sep, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Geoscience → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4080947","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":468541549,"identity":"545f430e-a989-4d1f-89dd-736f05e6967e","order_by":0,"name":"Yipeng He","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAnklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwYGxgcwjgSxWpgNSNbCBldJnBZzidxj1Tw1NnnmDMwHb/MQo8VyRl7abZ5jacWWDWzJ1kRpMbiRY3abt+Fw4oYDPGbSRGsphmjh/0a8FmaoLWxEajnzLllyzrG0xA2H2Ywt5xCl5XjuwQ9vamwSNxxvfnjjDTFaGARyoAxmopSDAP8ZopWOglEwCkbBSAUAs0cwU6LWOpMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3305-2558","institution":"Florida International University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yipeng","middleName":"","lastName":"He","suffix":""},{"id":468541550,"identity":"c2fc577f-8aea-474d-90dd-c398501f0b0e","order_by":1,"name":"David Kadko","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Florida International University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"David","middleName":"","lastName":"Kadko","suffix":""},{"id":468541551,"identity":"9af5d553-50bc-4007-a193-7f97c2512fa0","order_by":2,"name":"Mark Stephens","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2491-4654","institution":"Florida International University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mark","middleName":"","lastName":"Stephens","suffix":""},{"id":468541552,"identity":"0f57c7bf-2f9b-4200-b635-cfecb8ae1f89","order_by":3,"name":"Michael Sheridan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Georgia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Michael","middleName":"","lastName":"Sheridan","suffix":""},{"id":468541553,"identity":"c0552c8d-c670-4ba5-b2b9-7f66f0773482","order_by":4,"name":"Clifton Buck","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5691-9636","institution":"Skidaway Institute of Oceanography","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Clifton","middleName":"","lastName":"Buck","suffix":""},{"id":468541554,"identity":"b435d858-4097-48bc-b2d4-192e4670239c","order_by":5,"name":"Chris Marsay","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1244-0444","institution":"University of Delaware","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chris","middleName":"","lastName":"Marsay","suffix":""},{"id":468541555,"identity":"4890b181-dba3-4b1f-aaac-031419bc2826","order_by":6,"name":"William Landing","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7514-3247","institution":"FSU","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"William","middleName":"","lastName":"Landing","suffix":""},{"id":468541556,"identity":"fffe7e40-fd12-416f-b4bb-5c2b5cbfd42f","order_by":7,"name":"Minjie Zheng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Minjie","middleName":"","lastName":"Zheng","suffix":""},{"id":468541557,"identity":"082b76fd-31d0-4b7c-8368-bae05cffc65c","order_by":8,"name":"Pengfei Liu","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7280-9720","institution":"Georgia Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pengfei","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-03-12 07:24:55","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4080947/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4080947/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01785-2","type":"published","date":"2025-09-17T04:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":91613972,"identity":"ff637c7a-3e7a-46b8-8e47-1c3bdeecd24b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-18 10:23:06","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3942705,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"main20250607.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4080947/v1_covered_0ff971f8-7963-4542-91b2-889576e31b7a.pdf"},{"id":84357133,"identity":"c17b4ea8-0f1e-4c5b-b0f3-fa81888d19a3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-11 03:16:16","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":10757079,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Information","description":"","filename":"SI20250607.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4080947/v1/6751cc3d29693a4ebb36b19f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Constraining aerosol deposition over the global ocean","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Aerosols, dry and wet deposition, beryllium-7, climate, biogeochemical cycle, chemical transport model","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4080947/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4080947/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Aerosols significantly influence climate by modifying Earth’s radiative balance and marine biogeochemical cycles. However, accurate quantification of aerosol deposition onto ocean surfaces remains challenging, due to the limited direct observations over oceanic regions. Here, to address this observational gap, we use a newly developed method based on simultaneous measurements of the cosmogenic radiotracer beryllium-7 (7Be) in seawater and the atmosphere. 7Be is naturally produced in the atmosphere, rapidly attaches to submicron aerosol particles, and is deposited onto the ocean surface through wet and dry processes, making it a direct tracer for quantifying aerosol deposition. We combine previous measurements from cruises in the North Pacific, equatorial Pacific, North Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans with new measurements from the South Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans to derive a new aerosol deposition parameterization across the global ocean. Compared with current parameterizations used in the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model, we find aerosol deposition rates over the global ocean have been underestimated by 39 ± 23%, consequently overestimating aerosol lifetime over the oceans by an average of 69 ± 92%. Our observationally constrained results suggest that aerosol processes are more dynamic than previously estimated, with important implications on understanding aerosol-driven climate effects and marine biogeochemical processes globally.","manuscriptTitle":"Constraining aerosol deposition over the global ocean","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-06-11 03:16:11","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4080947/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-geoscience","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"ngeo","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Geoscience](http://www.nature.com/ngeo/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Geoscience","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Research","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c8227411-2c54-469d-878b-835403745a06","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 11th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":49742512,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Marine chemistry"},{"id":49742513,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental chemistry/Geochemistry"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-09-18T10:22:57+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-4080947","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01785-2","journal":{"identity":"nature-geoscience","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Nature Geoscience"},"publishedOn":"2025-09-17 04:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"September 17th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-06-11 03:16:11","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01785-2","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01785-2","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4080947","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4080947","identity":"rs-4080947","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}