Sulfate and methanesulfonate in the maritime aerosol at Cape Grim,Tasmania

High-volume aerosol filters, exposed in maritime air masses at Cape Grim since late 1976, were analysed for excess sulfate (not of seasalt origin) and methanesulfonate. The mean concentrations (standard errors) of 2.80(0.59) and 0.176(0.027) nmole/m³ respectively are about half those reported in a recent study of aerosol samples from various locations in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.Methanesulfonate concentration varied seasonally by at least an order of magnitude with a summer maximum and winter minimum. No comparable cycle was found for excess sulfate.