Articles | Volume 21, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3041-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3041-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
28 Jun 2024
Research article |
| 28 Jun 2024
| 28 Jun 2024
The fate of fixed nitrogen in Santa Barbara Basin sediments during seasonal anoxia
School of Earth, Ocean and Environment, University of South Carolina, 701 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC, USA
Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Department of Earth Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
David J. Yousavich
Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, 595 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Annie Bourbonnais
School of Earth, Ocean and Environment, University of South Carolina, 701 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC, USA
Frank Wenzhöfer
HGF-MPG Joint Research Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology, Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, Bremerhaven, Germany
HGF-MPG Joint Research Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstraße 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Department of Biology, HADAL Centre, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M, Denmark
Felix Janssen
HGF-MPG Joint Research Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology, Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, Bremerhaven, Germany
HGF-MPG Joint Research Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstraße 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Tina Treude
Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, 595 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Math Science Building, 520 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, USA
David L. Valentine
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Department of Earth Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
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Short summary
Biologically available (fixed) nitrogen (N) is a limiting nutrient for life in the ocean. Under low-oxygen conditions, fixed N is either removed via denitrification or retained via dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia (DNRA). Using in situ incubations in the Santa Barbara Basin, which undergoes seasonal anoxia, we found that benthic denitrification was the dominant nitrate reduction process, while nitrate availability and organic carbon content control the relative importance of DNRA.
Biologically available (fixed) nitrogen (N) is a limiting nutrient for life in the ocean. Under...
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