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N 2 : Ar, nitrification and denitrification in southern California borderland basin sediments 1
Author(s) -
Barnes R. O.,
Bertine K. K.,
Goldberg E. D.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1975.20.6.0962
Subject(s) - anoxic waters , nitrate , denitrification , seawater , nitrification , nitrite , environmental chemistry , sulfate , sediment , organic matter , nitrogen , ammonia , chemistry , water column , nitrogen cycle , sedimentary rock , oceanography , geology , geochemistry , geomorphology , organic chemistry
The first quantitative observations of dissolved molecular nitrogen (N 2 ) in deep‐sea sedimentary pore waters show increases of up to 17% above adjacent bottom water values. The N 2 : Ar concentration ratio similarly increases. This increase is greater than expected from reduction of seawater nitrate in the sediment. A mechanism is suggested in which ammonia, derived from nitrogen‐containing organic matter, is converted to N 2 through a nitrite intermediate under conditions of low oxygen tension. Ammonia is not converted to N 2 in anoxic sediments that are undergoing sulfate reduction even though N 2 is the thermodynamically stable species.