A seasonal analysis of aerosol NO₃^- sources and NO_x oxidation pathways in the Southern Ocean marine boundary layer

Nitrogen oxides, collectively referred to as NOx (NO + NO2), are an important component of atmospheric chemistry involved in the production and destruction of various oxidants that contribute to the oxidative capacity of the troposphere. The primary sink for NOx is atmospheric nitrate, which has an influence on climate and the biogeochemical cycling of reactive nitrogen. NOx sources and NOx-to-NO3- formation pathways remain poorly constrained in the remote marine boundary layer of the Southern Ocean, particularly outside of the more frequently sampled summer months. This study presents seasonally resolved measurements of the isotopic composition (delta N-15, delta O-18, and Delta O-17) of atmospheric nitrate in coarse-mode (> 1 mu m) aerosols, collected between South Africa and the sea ice edge in summer, winter, and spring. Similar latitudinal trends in delta N-15-NO3- were observed in summer and spring, suggesting similar NOx sources. Based on delta N-15-NO3-, the main NOx sources were likely a combination of lightning, biomass burning, and/or soil emissions at the low latitudes, as well as oceanic alkyl nitrates and snowpack emissions from continental Antarctica or the sea ice at the mid-latitudes and high latitudes, respectively. Snowpack emissions associated with photolysis were derived from both the Antarctic snowpack and snow on sea ice. A combination of natural NOx sources, likely transported from the lower-latitude Atlantic, contribute to the background-level NO3- observed in winter, with the potential for a stratospheric NO3- source evidenced by one sample of Antarctic origin. Greater values of delta O-18-NO3- in spring and winter compared to summer suggest an increased influence of oxidation pathways that incorporate oxygen atoms from O-3 into the end product NO3- (i.e. N2O5, DMS, and halogen oxides (XO)). Significant linear relationships between delta O-18 and Delta O-17 suggest isotopic mixing between H2O(v) and O-3 in winter and isotopic mixing between H2O(v) and O-3/XO in spring. The onset of sunlight in spring, coupled with large sea ice extent, can activate chlorine chemistry with the potential to increase peroxy radical concentrations, contributing to oxidant chemistry in the marine boundary layer. As a result, isotopic mixing with an additional third end-member (atmospheric O-2) occurs in spring.