Sea‐to‐air transfer of surface‐active organic compounds by bursting bubbles

The bubble transport of natural surfactant materials from seawater to the air‐water interface and to the air is investigated experimentally by a radiotracer test system. We have studied the rates at which four lipid materials of differing molecular structure are scavenged from artificial seawater and ejected into the atmosphere by air bubbles of various size distributions at differing airflow rates and bubbling times. We have found that the bubble transport to the air for all materials studied is linearly proportional to the quantity of material transported to the surface microlayer, and the constant of proportionality appears to be independent of the type of material but is a function of the airflow rate and bubble size. Small bubbles were found generally to be more effective in transporting surface‐active organic compounds from seawater to the air.