Abstract
The discovery in 1986 of an extremely large concentration (∼1 part per 109) of chlorine monoxide (CIO) at low altitudes in the spring stratosphere over Antarctica1,2, and measurements showing the formation of OC1O at night3, provided strong evidence that the evolution of the Antarctic ozone 'hole9 is chemically driven by chlorine. Here we use new measurements4 of the low-altitude CIO profile, made during September 1987, along with detailed observa-tions of ozone depletion5 over McMurdo Station during the same period, to show that both the rate and altitude range of ozone depletion can be quantitatively accounted for by a mechanism in which the CIO dimer6 is the important intermediary in the catalytic destruction of ozone. An alternative bromine mechanism appears capable of contributing only 5–15% to the ozone loss rate.
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Barrett, J., Solomon, P., de Zafra, R. et al. Formation of the Antarctic ozone hole by the CIO dimer mechanism. Nature 336, 455–458 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/336455a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/336455a0
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