The data were processed as described in Wozniak et al. (2014):
All mass spectra were externally calibrated with a polyethylene glycol standard and internally calibrated with naturally occurring fatty acids and other homologous series present within the sample (Sleighter and Hatcher, 2008). A molecular formula calculator (Molecular Formula Calc v. 1.0 ©NHMFL, 1998) generated molecular formulas using carbon (12C8–50), hydrogen (1H8–100), oxygen (16O1–30), nitrogen (14N0–5), sulfur (32S0–2), and phosphorous (31P0–2). Peaks identified in process blanks (PPL extract of QMA filter blank WSOM) were subtracted from the sample peak list prior to formula assignment. Only m/z values in the range of 200-800 with a signal to noise ratio above 3 were used for molecular formula assignments. The mean mass resolution for all samples over that mass range was 560,000.
Constraints corresponding to the standard range of atomic composition for natural organic matter were applied during formula assignment following previous work (Stubbins et al., 2010; Wozniak et al., 2008): (1) O/C ≤ 1.2; (2) 0.3 ≤ H/C ≤ 2.25; (3) N/C ≤ 0.5; (4) S/C ≤ 0.2; (5) P/C ≤ 0.2; (6) DBE ≥ 0 and an integer value. The term DBE is the number of double bond equivalents, which is the number of double bonds and rings in a formula (e.g., Hockaday et al., 2006). The measured m/z values and assigned formula calculated exact masses all agreed within the maximum allowed error of 1.0 ppm, and >90% of formulas were within 0.5 ppm. An unequivocal formula is found for m/z values below 450, but above this, multiple formulas may match the measured m/z value. In order to ensure a unique formula per peak, additional constraints are placed on the proportion of heteroatoms using the following criteria (Kujawinski et al., 2009): 1) each formula should have numbers of N and S atoms that are each fewer than the number of oxygen atoms, and 2) the sum of the N and S atoms should be the lowest possible.
The spectral magnitude for a given peak results from a combination of the concentrations of the isomeric compounds representing a given molecular formula in the actual WSOM, how ionizable those compounds are using ESI, and the FTICR MS analytical window. ESI FTICR MS is thus not a purely quantitative technique.
References:
Gurganus, S. C., A. S. Wozniak, and P. G. Hatcher. 2015. Molecular characteristics of the water soluble organic matter in size resolved aerosols collected over the North Atlantic Ocean. Marine Chemistry, 170, 37-48, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2015.01.007
Hockaday, W., Grannas, A., Kim, S., and Hatcher, P. 2006. Direct molecular evidence for the degradation and mobility of black carbon in soils from ultrahigh-resolution mass spectral analysis of dissolved organic matter from a fire-impacted forest soil. Org. Geochem., 37, 501-510. doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2005.11.003
Kujawinski, E. B., Longnecker, K., Blough, N. V., Vecchio, R. D., Finlay, L., Kitner, J. B., and Giovannoni, S. J. 2009. Identification of possible source markers in marine dissolved organic matter using ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 73, 4384-4399. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2009.04.033
Mitra, S., Wozniak, A. S., Miller, R., Hatcher, P. G., Buonassissi, C., and Brown, M. 2013. Multiproxy probing of rainwater dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition in coastal storms as a function of trajectory. Mar. Chem., 154, 67-76. doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2013.05.013
Sleighter, R. L. and Hatcher, P. G. 2008. Molecular characterization of dissolved organic matter (DOM) along a river to ocean transect of the lower Chesapeake Bay by ultrahigh resolution electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. Mar. Chem., 110, 140-152. doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2008.04.008
Stubbins, A., Spencer, R. G., Chen, H., Hatcher, P. G., Mopper, K., Hernes, P. J., Mwamba, V. L., Mangangu, A. M., Wabakanghanzi, J. N., and Six, J. 2010. Illuminated darkness: Molecular signatures of Congo River dissolved organic matter and its photochemical alteration as revealed by ultrahigh precision mass spectrometry. Limnol. Oceanogr., 55, 1467-1477. doi:10.4319/lo.2010.55.4.1467
Wozniak, A.S., Bauer, J.E., Sleighter, R.L., Dickhut, R.M., Hatcher, P.G. 2008. Technical Note: Molecular characterization of aerosol-derived water soluble organic carbon using ultrahigh resolution electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 5099-5111. doi:10.5194/acp-8-5099-2008
Wozniak, A. S., R. L. Sleighter, H. Abdulla, A. S. Priest, P. L. Morton, R. U. Shelley, W. M. Landing, and P. G. Hatcher. 2013. Relationships among aerosol water soluble organic matter, iron and aluminum in European, North African, and Marine air masses from the 2010 US GEOTRACES cruise. Marine Chemistry, 154, 24-33. doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2013.04.011
Wozniak, A.S., A. S. Willoughby, S. C. Gurganus, P. G. Hatcher. 2014. Distinguishing molecular characteristics of aerosol water soluble organic matter from the 2011 trans-North Atlantic US GEOTRACES cruise. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 14, 8419-8434, doi:10.5194/acp-14-8419-2014
BCO-DMO Processing:
- Modified parameter names to conform with BCO-DMO naming conventions;
- merged FTICR data with sample information;
- added cruise id, event numbers, and station numbers from BCO-DMO GEOTRACES NAT master event file;
- replaced missing data with 'nd';
- converted date-time fields to ISO format;
- changed longitude values to negative.