Abstract
Denitrification was studied in the water column in the Bunnefjord, inner part of the Oslofjord in southern Norway, using a 15N-technique (the isotope pairing method). The fjord is 150 m deep and during our surveys in September–December 1998 hydrogen sulphide was present in the deep water below 80 m. No significant denitrification was found in water samples from the surface layer (4 m depth), but high rates were observed within a deep density gradient between 62 and 78 m depth. Oxygen concentration within this layer was low (<21 mmol m−3), and the concentration of NO3 decreased from ca. 15 mmolċm−3 at 62 m depth to not detectable below 78 m. Pronounced peaks of NO2 up to 4.4 mmol m−3 were observed at 70–78 m depth. The maximum denitrification rate of 1.5 mmol N m−3 d−1 was observed at 70 m depth. Integrated for the whole layer, the denitrification rate was 13 mmol N m−2 d−1. A significant linear correlation was found between the denitrification rate and the ambient nitrate concentration which indicated that the rate was primarily controlled by the availability of nitrate in the O2-poor water. Compared to rates reported for coastal water, denitrification in the water column in the Bunnefjord was high and the process appears to be a major sink of bioavailable nitrogen in the fjord.
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Kristiansen, S., Thorne Schaanning, M. Denitrification in the water column of an intermittently anoxic fjord. Hydrobiologia 469, 77–86 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015515308625
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015515308625