Data availability
MODIS-A Level 3 data products (chlorophyll-a, CDOM and detritus absorption at 443 nm and phytoplankton absorption at 443 nm) can be downloaded from NASA’s Ocean Color Web (https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/). SSS data from the Aquarius satellite mission can be downloaded from NASA’s Physic Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/SeaSurfaceSalinity/Aquarius). Total iodine, total soluble iodine, iodine enrichment factors, iodine speciation and major ion aerosol observations in marine aerosol compiled for this work can be retrieved from doi:10.5281/zenodo.5588450.