About the seminar:

Large uncertainties associated with the global budget of the greenhouse gas methane significantly inhibit the ability of researchers and policymakers to effectively reduce emissions. The gaps in the global budget of methane can be filled by gathering more observations around poorly constrained removal pathways. Oxidation via the chlorine radical is one of those pathways that is relevant to methane destruction, specifically, in the marine troposphere. The importance of regional chlorine chemistry was first alluded to when discrepancies in the isotopic ratios of carbon monoxide, a product of the reaction of methane and chlorine, were discovered in Barbados in the late 1990’s. Current research into seasonally dependent pathways has led to the elucidation of the mineral dust-sea spray aerosol (MDSA) mechanism. In this seminar, supporting literature for the MDSA mechanism will be explored. Preliminary gas-phase data collected in Cape San Juan, Puerto Rico via an iodide chemical ionization mass spectrometer will be investigated to augment modern observations around this mechanism.