Idealized model of nitrogen recycling in marine sediments
A model of the interdependent processes involved in nitrogen mineralization in marine sediments is presented, based on data collected in the sandy sediments of the North Sea. It relates the flux of organic material deposited in the sediments to the release of dissolved nitrogen to the overlying water, given the mixing conditions undergone by the solid and interstitial phases of the sediment under the action of physical or biological processes. Although idealized, the model can be useful in predicting the trends of variation in the relative importance of ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification, as a result of variations in the organic matter input to the bottom. It shows that, at low input of organic matter, most nitrogen release occurs as nitrate, whereas, at higher input, ammonium release prevails. Denitrification reaches a plateau above a certain input of organic material. It can involve an appreciable proportion (more than about 30 percent of the flux) of remineralized nitrogen only at high organic input and when a high nitrate concentration exists in the overlying water.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Brussels, Belgium
- OSTI ID:
- 5103678
- Journal Information:
- Am. J. Sci.; (United States), Vol. 282:4
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Microbial nitrogen cycling in contaminated and uncontaminated Great Lakes sediments
Benthic fluxes and porewater concentration profiles of dissolved organic carbon in sediments from the North Carolina continental slope