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A Laboratory Technique for Releasing and Measuring Denitrification Products Trapped in Soil
Author(s) -
Holt L. S.,
Christianson C. B.,
Austin E. R.,
Katyal J. C.
Publication year - 1988
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/sssaj1988.03615995005200050057x
Subject(s) - denitrification , incubation , soil water , chemistry , nitrogen , environmental chemistry , fertilizer , fraction (chemistry) , material balance , nitrogen balance , environmental science , soil science , chromatography , biochemistry , organic chemistry , process engineering , engineering
Several laboratory denitrification studies have shown an incomplete 15 N balance at their conclusion. This incomplete 15 N balance could be attributed to trapped gaseous products of denitrification within the soil. Incubation trials were designed to determine whether a complete 15 N balance could be achieved if these trapped gases were released and included in the 15 N balance. At the end of a preliminary incubation trial using flooded soils, 80% of the fertilizer was found in the soil and water fraction while the measured loss through denitrification into the headspace was only 2.6% with 70% in the soil and water fraction. When the incubation vessel was thoroughly shaken prior to sampling, fertilizer N recovery in the gaseous phase increased to 26.7%. This indicated that most of the gaseous products of denitrification had been trapped within the soil, and a nearly complete 15 N balance was obtained.