Ultraviolet absorption cross sections of the main and substituted carbonyl sulfide isotopologues
were calculated using wavepacket dynamics. The calculated absorption cross section of 16O12C32S
is in very good agreement with the accepted experimental spectrum between 190 and 250 nm.
Relative to 16O12C32S, isotopic substitution shows a significant enhancement of the cross section for
16O13C32S, a significant reduction for 18O12C32S and 17O12C32S and almost no change for the sulfur
isotopologues 16O12C33S, 16O12C34S, and 16O12C36S. The analysis of the initial wavepackets shows
that these changes can be explained in terms of the change in the norm of the initial wavepacket.
Implications for our understanding of the stratospheric sulfur cycle are discussed.