Relationships among aerosol water soluble organic matter, iron and aluminum in European, North African, and Marine air masses from the 2010 US GEOTRACES cruise

• European-influenced aerosols have higher WSOC/trace metal ratios than North African.
• European aerosol WSOM is characterized as more aliphatic and carboxyl-rich.
• Aerosol WSOM characteristics may help explain higher fractional Fe and Al solubility.

The atmospheric delivery of soluble and bioavailable iron (Fe) is essential for the biogeochemical functioning of many oceanic ecosystems where Fe is a limiting micronutrient for biological production. Aerosol samples associated with air masses characterized as European-influenced, primarily marine (no continental influence within 5 day back trajectories), or North African-influenced were collected along a cruise track in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean during a 2010 US GEOTRACES cruise. Aerosols were analyzed for total and soluble Fe and aluminum (Al) and organic matter (OM) loadings and OM chemical characteristics, to explore potential relationships between aerosol OM and Fe and Al that contribute to higher Fe and Al solubilities in combustion-influenced aerosols. Similar to the results from previous studies, North African-influenced air masses contained higher aerosol Fe (4.7–86 nmol m− 3) and Al (13–240 nmol m− 3) total loadings than European-influenced air masses (Fe: 0.63–2.7 nmol m− 3; Al: 2.5–5.9 nmol m− 3), but Fe and Al relative solubilities were much higher for European (Fe: 2.1–4.6%; Al: 1.9–3.2%) versus North African-influenced aerosols (Fe: 0.22–0.70%; Al: 0.39–1.1%). Water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) to trace metal ratios correlated positively with this trend in Fe and Al relative solubilities, as European-influenced WSOC/trace metal ratios ranged from ~ 2 to 32 while North African-influenced aerosol WSOC/trace metal ratios ranged from 0.04 to 0.51. Aerosols from primarily marine air masses showed the lowest Fe, Al, and OM loadings of all samples and Fe (0.71–2.5%) and Al (0.36–9.2%) solubilities that were variable and did not fit the patterns described for the continentally-influenced samples. Principal component analysis was employed on aerosol water soluble OM (WSOM) solution state 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectra and revealed the European-influenced aerosol WSOM to be characterized by higher contributions from acetic acid (a common photoproduct of atmospheric OM) and aliphatic hydrogens, while North African-influenced aerosol WSOM was characterized by carbohydrate-like compounds and compounds with unsaturations. The abundance of the acetic acid photoproduct in European-influenced aerosol WSOM suggests this WSOM to be rich in carboxyl groups that are thought to be strong Fe-binding ligands and provides evidence for the potential role of WSOM in maintaining aerosol Fe and Al solubilities.