Transport of surface-active organic materials from seawater to the air-water interface by an ascending current field

Surface slicks at sea are characterized by the occurence of capillary-wave damping materials at the air-water interface. Physical mechanisms causing such slicks are believed to include internal waves, Langmuir circulations, and other phenomena involving vertical or horizontal transport and compression of surfactants We report the rates of transport and deposition of four naturally occurring surface-active organic materials to the seawater-air interface by an ascending current field. Our results indicate that the susceptibility of these materials to transport by current follows the same relative order as their susceptibility by bubbles (although the latter rate is dramatically greater). The current transport results obtained can be explained by standard surface adsorption kinetics. Our data also indicate that subtle variations in the chemical structure and polarity of different materials may be major determining factors influencing their transport to the sea surface by currents.