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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-4296</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Measurement report: Molecular-level insights into the seasonal formation of organosulfates in a mountain atmosphere</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wang</surname>
<given-names>Ting</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Hong</surname>
<given-names>Youwei</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4698-1783</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Duan</surname>
<given-names>Jing</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2182-1847</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Zhou</surname>
<given-names>Liyuan</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8042-6949</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wang</surname>
<given-names>Ying</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Xu</surname>
<given-names>Wei</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9590-1906</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>State Key Laboratory of Advanced Environmental Technology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Quanzhou Normal University, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Quanzhou, 362000, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>State Key Laboratory of Loess Science, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710061, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>27</day>
<month>08</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>24</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Ting Wang et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-4296/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-4296/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-4296/egusphere-2026-4296.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-4296/egusphere-2026-4296.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Organosulfates (OSs) are important components of secondary organic aerosol, yet their molecular composition and formation processes in mountain atmospheres remain poorly constrained. In this study, PM&lt;sub&gt;2.5&lt;/sub&gt; samples collected during summer and winter at a high-altitude background site at Wuyi Mountain, southeastern China, were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with orbitrap mass spectrometry (HPLC-Orbitrap MS) to examine how seasonal changes in precursor availability and atmospheric processing influence OS molecular composition. Clear seasonal differences were observed in the molecular composition and structural characteristics. Summer OSs were enriched in more highly oxygenated species (with &lt;span style=&quot;display: inline; border-top: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.5); margin-left: -0.1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;margin-left: 0.1px;&quot;&gt;OS&lt;sub&gt;c&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;sub&gt; &lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;gt;-1 accounting for 72 % of the total OS signal abundance), whereas winter OSs were characterized by larger (C&lt;sub&gt;5&lt;/sub&gt;&amp;ndash;C&lt;sub&gt;23&lt;/sub&gt;), less oxygenated (O&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;&amp;ndash;O&lt;sub&gt;7&lt;/sub&gt;), and more unsaturated molecules, reflecting more diverse precursor influences. Among 35 structurally identified OSs, isoprene- and monoterpene-derived species were enriched in summer, while aliphatic-like OSs and monoterpene-derived nitrooxy-OSs were more abundant in winter, indicating seasonal variations in precursor availability and the relative importance of atmospheric processing. Mechanistic analysis suggested that summer OS formation was more closely associated with sulfate-rich and highly acidic conditions favorable for multiphase processing, whereas wintertime OS formation reflected greater influences from elevated atmospheric oxidants and nitrogen-related chemistry. Regional transport further contributed to wintertime OS composition by increasing anthropogenic precursor inputs and promoting atmospheric aging. These findings demonstrate that seasonal OS variability in mountain environments reflects the interplay between precursor availability and atmospheric processing, providing field-based molecular evidence for the coupling of biogenic and anthropogenic influences in secondary organic aerosol formation and evolution.</p>
</abstract>
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<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>National Natural Science Foundation of China</funding-source>
<award-id>42277091</award-id>
<award-id>42307353</award-id>
<award-id>42577115</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
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