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Data Supporting "Process Controls on Dimethyl Sulfide Accumulation and Its Response to Microplastic Perturbation in the Pearl River Estuary–Western South China Sea"

Original title: Data Supporting “Process Controls on Dimethyl Sulfide Accumulation and Its Response to Microplastic Perturbation in the Pearl River Estuary–Western South China Sea”

Figshare 2026
Chen Chen, Yao Feng, congying Li, Jie Fu, zhen He, Chun-ying Liu, Gui-Peng Yang

Summary

Scientists studied a gas called DMS, produced by tiny ocean organisms, which helps form clouds and can influence local climate—and they tested how ocean microplastic pollution affects this process in Chinese coastal waters. This matters because microplastics are everywhere in our oceans, and this research helps us understand whether plastic pollution might be disrupting natural systems that affect weather patterns and marine ecosystem health, which humans ultimately depend on for food and climate stability.

Study Type Environmental

This dataset supports the study entitled “Process Controls on Dimethyl Sulfide Accumulation and Its Response to Microplastic Perturbation in the Pearl River Estuary–Western South China Sea.” The study integrates field observations, process-rate measurements, sea-to-air flux calculations, photochemical experiments, and shipboard microplastic incubations to investigate the processes regulating dimethyl sulfide (DMS) accumulation in estuarine–coastal waters.The dataset contains five worksheets:Surface_data: Surface hydrographic and biogeochemical observations collected in the Pearl River Estuary and the western South China Sea during July–August 2021, including wind speed, temperature, salinity, chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), DMS, DMSP, dissolved DMSP (DMSPd), and particulate DMSP (DMSPp).Process_rates: Station-specific biological DMS production rates, microbial DMS consumption rates, net DMS production rates, DMSPd degradation rates, and DMSPd-to-DMS conversion efficiencies.Sea_air_flux: Surface-water DMS concentrations, wind speeds, and calculated sea-to-air DMS fluxes at individual sampling stations.Photochemistry: DMS photochemical oxidation rates under visible light, UVA, UVB, and full-spectrum solar radiation, together with the corresponding solar irradiance.Microplastic_data: Time-series data from shipboard microplastic incubation experiments, including Chl-a, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), DMS, DMSPd, and DMSPp in the microplastic-amended treatments and their corresponding controls.The data are provided in a machine-readable Microsoft Excel file and include the numerical values used in the analyses, figures, and tables presented in the manuscript and Supporting Information. Blank cells indicate measurements that were unavailable or not determined. The dataset may be used to examine DMS and DMSP distributions, transformation efficiencies, biological and photochemical turnover, sea-to-air exchange, and the responses of the DMSP–DMS system to controlled microplastic perturbation.

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