Biogenic Sulfur Compounds and the Global Sulfur Cycle

Abstract

Sulfur compounds of biogenic origin are thought to constitute a significant fraction of the atmospheric sulfur burden. Experimental determination of the biogenic fluxes of these compounds into the atmosphere is required to assess accurately the relative contributions of the anthropogenic and the biogenic fraction of the natural sources to such important phenomena as the atmospheric sulfate burden and acid precipitation. A review of the literature describing field measurements of biogenic sulfur compounds at different kinds of emission locales to include both generation processes (sulfate reduction and plant decomposition) of volatile sulfur production show a great variation in the emission rate measurements associated primarily with wide variations in the surface and climatic environments of the various study sites. Although the maximum emission rate measurements balance the global sulfur cycle, the average measurement values do not, indicating the need for more experimental investigations in order to characterize the biogenic process adequately.