SABKHAT AND THE DISAPPEARING BROMINE!

A solute mass-balance study of ground water from the 3,000 km2 coastal sabkha (salt flats) of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi document an annual bromine loss of approximately 280 tons (0.0035 Gmoles). Published and experimental evidence suggests that this loss may be by oxyanion vapor to the atmosphere. If a similar flux from the approximately 1.5 million km2 of sabkhat on earth occurs the annual global bromine flux to the atmosphere must be approximately 140 ktons (1.8 Gmoles). This flux is approximately 13% of the total annual bromine flux, and may be greater than the current anthropogenic flux and thus, of interest in modeling the loss of ozone in the stratosphere. The loss of bromide from an evaporating environment may also have important ramification for reconstructing some paleoenvironments.