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Some Aspects of the Problem of Evaluating Denitrification in Soils
Author(s) -
Hauck R. D.,
Melsted S. W.
Publication year - 1956
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1956.03615995002000030017x
Subject(s) - nitrogen , denitrification , nitrate , environmental chemistry , nitrogen balance , soil water , material balance , chemistry , reactive nitrogen , environmental science , soil test , soil science , organic chemistry , process engineering , engineering
There is need for methods which will enable one to study directly the gaseous products of nitrate reduction in the field. Accurate determinations of complete nitrogen balances for laboratory soil systems are necessary to evaluate the extent of denitrification in the field. The mass spectrometer and the infra‐red spectrophotometer were used to determine quantitatively the production of nitrogen (N 2 ) gas and nitrogen oxides, respectively, from laboratory soil containing nitrate nitrogen enriched with N 15 . Chemical analyses of total organic and inorganic nitrogen were made to complete the nitrogen balance sheets. From 89 to 100% of the total nitrogen contained in a closed system was accounted for by direct analyses in this manner.