Global sources and sinks of OCS and CS₂and their distributions

Abstract

This study investigates the distribution and magnitudes of the global sources and sinks of OCS and CS 2 . From an analysis of the correlations between measured emission rates and environmental parameters, the sources of OCS and CS 2 are estimated to be 1.23 (0.83−1.71) Tg(OCS) yr −1 and 0.57 (0.34−0.82) Tg(CS 2 ) yr −1 , respectively. Our results indicate that 30% of the atmospheric OCS source is derived from the oxidation of CS 2 , while emissions from the ocean and other natural terrestrial sources contribute 28% and 24%, respectively. In the case of CS 2 , the major source is from chemical industrial emissions (58%) while the ocean contributes about 34% to the total CS 2 source. Our estimate of the OCS and CS 2 emission rates suggests that anthropogenic activities contribute approximately 32% to the total OCS source. The major sink for CS 2 is oxidation by tropospheric OH, whereas, that for OCS appears to be uptake by vegetation.