Transfer of slightly soluble gases across the air-sea interface under conditions where no significant wave breaking is occurring is considered. The flow field near the interface is described by an Orr-Sommerfeld equation with the key boundary condition being the variation in interfacial stress caused by a turbulent wind flow over small-wavelength waves. Spectra for normal velocity fluctuations are calculated from measured wave amplitude spectra, and it is shown that very strong flows, which are in the close proximity of the interface and should be effective at enhancing mass transfer, occur and that only small-wavelength waves (less than about 4 cm) contribute. Mass transfer coefficients, determined by solution to the advection-diffusion equation with the reconstructed velocity field, agree well with available measurements. When the wave-induced shear variation boundary condition is omitted, much smaller fluctuations and correspondingly lower mass transfer rates ensue; this second solution seems to be similar to the mechanism proposed by Coantic <1986>. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1988