Abstract
The possible existence and chemistry of asymmetric ClO·O2 in the stratosphere could resolve the current apparent discrepancy between the observed steep but theoretically predicted much slower decrease of ClO mixing ratio with altitude below the peak. This conjecture follows from the recent finding1 that possible formation of ClO·O2 from ClO and O2 may be the physical mechanism by which O2 suppresses the quantum yields in chlorine photosensitized decomposition of ozone (refs 2, 3 and C. S. Lin, S. Jaffe and W. DeMore, unpublished results). In this letter it is suggested that introduction of ClO·O2 in current photochemical models of the stratosphere could make the observed variability of ClO more understandable. It could also provide a possible mitigating influence on the present estimates of O3 destruction from CFM consumption.
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Prasad, S. Possible existence and chemistry of ClO·O2 in the stratosphere. Nature 285, 152–154 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/285152a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/285152a0
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