Global budgets sulfur compounds

The production of volatile reduced sulfur compounds in marine ecosystems and the subsequent efflux of these compounds to the marine atmospheric boundary layer is an important source of sulfur to the global atmosphere (1). Independent of its role in the atmospheric sulfur budget, Charlson et al. (2) have suggested that dimethylsulfide (DMS) also plays a major role in cloud formation over oceans. Oxidation products of DMS appear to serve as sites for cloud nucleation. 

OCS is found as a major sulfur compound in anodic gases of commercial aluminum smelters. Studies suggest a specific OCS emission of l-7kgt (Al). In 1993 aluminum production was responsible for between 0.02 Tg(S) yr and 0.14 Tg(S) yr of OCS emissions, which is only a small fraction of the annual global budget (Harnisch et al., 1995). Other sources of OCS are coal combustion 0.019 Tg(S) yr, industry 0.001 Tg(S) yr, the wear on tyres 0.04 Tg(S) yr and the combustion products from automobiles 0.002 Tg(S) yr (Kjellstrom, 1998). Carbon disulfide also has a range of anthropogenic sources such as chemical production 0.26 Tg(S) yr , industry 0.002 Tg(S) yr, aluminum production 0.004 Tg(S) yr, and combustion products from automobiles 0.0002 Tg(S) yr (Kjellstrom, 1998). 

Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is the dominant sulfur compound emitted from the world s oceans. DMS was discovered in the surface ocean by Lovelock et al. (1972), who suggested that DMS may be the biogenic sulfur species that was needed at the time to balance the global sulfur budget. 

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