Sulphur dioxide absorption by sea water

Abstract The absorption of sulphur dioxide by sea water has been measured using a smallscale laboratory apparatus with sulphur-35 sulphur dioxide at atmospheric concentrations. The velocity of deposition of sulphur dioxide varied with gas flow rate reaching 1.44 cm s −1 in turbulent conditions. The data suggests that gas-phase diffusion limits the absorption of sulphur dioxide by sea water and that the oceans may be a major sink for atmospheric sulphur dioxide.