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Summary

A new method for accurate and easy measurement of denitrification in sediments is presented. The water overlying intact sediment cores was enriched with 15NO3− which mixed with the 14NO3− of the natural sources of NO3−. The formation by denitrification of single-labeled (14N15N) and double-labeled (15N15N) dinitrogen pairs was measured by mass spectrometry after a few hours incubation. Total denitrification including the formation of unlabeled (14N14N) dinitrogen could be calculated assuming random isotope pairing by denitrification of the uniformly mixed NO3− species. In contrast to previous approaches, by this method it is possible to measure denitrification of both NO3− diffusing from the overlying water and NO3− from nitrification within the sediment.

Denitrification, Nitrification, Sediment, Isotopes, 15N, 15NO3−

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© 1992 Federation of European Microbiological Societies
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